Anime Car Wars: Omega Force
by Sitting on the Event Horizon
Summary: "Time for us to leave, Ryu. Hana's waiting for you back home and your Mom's going to rescue a princess along with your Dad and big sister."
1. Power Plays and Political Ambitions

Prologue - **Power Plays and Political Ambitions**

Louisiana Presidential Palace, Presidential Office – 6:00 PM Central Time, Wednesday, March 25, 2044

"Yuka, I fear that John (Oil Baron John Twoeagles) is up to something since his invitation for both Sayuri and me to visit his Oklahoma ranch is a little too good to be true." President Sanosuke Nonoka had told his trusted Under Secretary of Energy and hatchet woman, Yuka Tsukihime. "This is especially worrying since there are reports of storm surges in Oklahoma in the next two weeks. I smell a well planned trap."

The silver haired president was visibly walking back and forth in his carpeted room with his arms swinging like a pendulum with each taken step.

His head had turned this way and that as he tried to focus on anything that could ease his growing apprehension.

On the other hand, his guest ,as well as a member of his cabinet, was sitting comfortably in the room's single light green leather couch watching her boss impassively.

Yuka was even thinking about telling Presidential Housekeeping that they would need a brand new Olefin woven carpet for the President's office in the next few days.

The light brunette had never even noticed that she was also unconsciously twirling a lock of her off the shoulder sandy hair as she sat there in the couch.

Her boss' crocodile leather foot ware was already making its mark on the poor carpet. The said guest could already see the various creases caused by the never ending march of the silver haired dignitary in only two directions.

"Well sir, we cannot turn his offer down since it would be bad for publicity and all." Yuka said with a prominent frown that was alien to her usually smiling face. "Still, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to send an encoded e-mail message to Brigadier General Soun Tendou," President Nonoka said as he now checked the whole room for any electronic bugs to further dispel his worry from being overthrown.

After a brief pause, he then added. "Tell him that if both my daughter and I have not come back here by Friday morning, he is to activate the Omega Force immediately and coordinate with the other Oil Barons for a concerted attack on Twoeagle's ancestral estate."

Yuka was taken aback by this sudden order from her boss; her whole body (all five foot three inches of it) was actually frozen with shock.

"Sir, with all due respect, I cannot just ask for the Omega Force to just barge in Twoeagle's palatial home without any proof of wrongdoing."

"I know that, but I already have my misgivings with John's politicking in Oklahoma City." The president said with a bit of anger noticeable in his raspy voice. "I already asked Jack (US 2 President Burke) for some advise should that bastard try anything underhanded against me and he told me that he will get Soun to help me out."

"I understand, Sir." Yuka bowed slightly before heading for the door. "By the way, can I also send it to my old high school classmate –Akane Saotome?"

"You mean Soun's youngest daughter?" The president said as he had twirled his greying handlebar mustache and flipped over the information in his head. "Alright, do it. I've heard that she and her husband are the team's tactical commanders."

"Thank you, sir." Yuka was about to close the door on the way out when the president also told her to take a three week vacation with her family.

She was puzzled at the order given until she realized that both her husband and daughter could be in danger once the political supporters of Twoeagles in Louisiana caught wind of this particular conversation.

-oOo-

Later that night, in the main bedroom of the Tsukihime mansion in the northern suburbs of Baton Rouge, Yuka had told her husband that they and their six year old daughter were all taking a three week vacation starting the very next day.

She had met her young daughter at the door and the young lass had joined her for a late dinner. Hana had listened patiently while her mother was telling her that they would take a weeks vacation starting the next day.

"Mom, is this connected to the bad things that Dad and I see on the news?" Hana had asked while Yuka was escorting her to her room.

'Smart girl,' Yuka had thought before providing her answer. "Yes, dear. Things are not going to well at work and Grandpa Sanosuke has told us to take a week off. Thankfully, your school is on Spring Break."

"I understand, Mom." Hana was already laying down on her bed. "Good night."

"Good night, sweetie." Yuka said in reply as she had tucked in her only child and kissed her on the forehead.

The spent mother then carefully turned off the lights and left the room before heading towards the bathroom.

-oOo-

Yuka had just changed to her silk nightgown upon entering the main bedroom with a bit of apprehension before telling the news to her husband.

Her husband, Daisuke had looked up from the stapled papers that he was reading with his eyebrows raised upon his wife's arrival. In response, he had sat up on his side of the double bed and patted the empty bedside.

Daisuke himself could not afford to take a vacation now since work was piling up on his side of the fence as Chief of Presidential Security especially since the President and First Daughter of Louisiana was scheduled for a visit to nearby Oklahoma in the next few days.

"Honey, if I could just leave the job to my men, I would love to take a vacation with you and Hana." He said with a little whine escaping from his lips. "But I cannot just leave them in charge of a state visit in Oklahoma of all places. I promised the boss that I'll do a good job of guarding him and his successor until I retire."

"Daisuke!" Yuka had tried to keep her voice down so as not to wake up her only daughter who was sleeping in the next room. "It was President Nonoka who **told** us to take that vacation."

"Alright, alright. If the boss man himself wants us to take a vacation, I'll take the **damn** vacation!" Daisuke then lowered his voice upon realizing that his daughter would hear him and simply beckoned his wife of eight years to sit down on her side of the bed with his left hand. "I'm just worried that he and Sayuri would be waist deep in trouble if I'm not there with them."

"Me too, dear." Yuka said as she had hugged her half naked husband and placed her head on his bare right shoulder. "Me too."

-oOo-

The next day, the Tsukimori family took the 10:30 AM flight to Austin, Texas. Sayuri had ordered the tickets on line the night before thorough a good friend of hers in the ticketing office of the national airline as soon as she got home.

She did have to tell her friend the real reason though as soon as the crisis is over as promised in return for the given tickets.

As soon as the Tsukihime family had arrived at their vacation home in Barton Hills around 1:00 PM, Yuka had pulled her husband into their master bedroom while leaving their six year old daughter- Hana to their butler for a few minutes.

While Yuka was making the coded e-mail to the Pentagon in the room's personal computer, she told Daisuke the true reason for their sudden vacation.

She then had to calm him down when he had a brief fit about joining the Presidential entourage bound for Oklahoma and kicking some Sooner butt, political scandal or no.

"Daisuke honey, you do realize that he can't afford to lose you. Hell, Hanna and I can't afford to lose you just so you could prove to everyone that you're indispensable as Chief of Security." Yuka was saying barely above a whisper as she held the taller man in a tight hug, her pale face leaning on his white polo shirt.

The black haired man had relented when he saw the droplets of clear liquid coming from his wife's eyes as they stained his favourite polo shirt.

"I-I'm sorry dear. It's just really frustrating that I could actually do something for the good of Louisiana and then be told to let some other guys do it for me." He said with genuine contrite in his tone.

"Don't worry, dear. The Omega Force will take care of this problem." Yuka had briefly looked up at her husband's face and again buried her face in his chest area. Her fingers made small circles in the brunet's chest as she spoke.

"The Omega Force, huh?" The brunet's chapped lips broke into a smile upon hearing the famous group's name as well as his wife's burning touch. "Good thing, my old duelling buddy- Ranma Saotome is in that team along with his wife-Akane. I'll bet my ol' cowboy boots that John Twoeagles will simmer beautifully like a freshly barbequed char-broiled steak when that team tears his well laid plans apart."

-oOo-

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., a forty something Asian man in full dress uniform with cropped black hair was just arriving at his destination – The White House.

The man then told the enlisted man who drove the black Hummer had ridden in to take a break for an hour or so before he was frisked by the Secret Service personnel who were standing guard with the US Park Police in the front of the famous building.

The man- Brigadier General Soun Tendou had already received the e-mail from Yuka the night before and had immediately rounded up the Omega Force before telling them to meet him at Edward's Air Base later that afternoon.

For now, he was to talk with President John Burke and the Oil Barons on how to stop John Twoeagles' plans to take over Louisiana and covertly use his new found position to threaten both the other Oil Barons and the United States 2.

After he entered the Diplomatic Reception Room, Soun was escorted by two Secret Service agents to the stairway leading to the basement where the Situation Room is located.

The one star general was frisked for the second time by some CIA agents before he had entered the room itself.

From what he remembered, there were six flat panel display televisions, four of them were placed on the longer sides while two on the shorter sides, surrounding the room itself.

This had made it possible for them to continue the meeting even if one of them were to be stuck in another part of the country.

The US 2 President – Jack Burke had once used this technology to talk with Soun on the progress of the first mission of the Omega Force years ago.

At the time, the Omega Force commander was in an Army base nearest to the said group's objective that he had used to coordinate his team's actions through the base's microwave communication system.

As soon as he had entered the Situation Room, Soun was immediately approached by a few of the Oil Barons who were also called by the President Burke for a secret meeting.

An Oil Baron named Jason McGregor met him first followed by Satoshi Yamamoto. The latter was delighted to see yet another American with Japanese blood running through his thin veins.

The rest of the Oil Barons were waiting for them at the table in the center of the main room. The President himself had asked the Omega Force commander to sit by his right side before starting the introductions.

After exchanging pleasantries, the assembled bigwigs had discussed that it is best that if the worst case scenario should happen, then they would use a covert military team (possibly the Omega Force itself) to assassinate the bastard.

"Mr. President, I do hope that this situation would not warrant such rash actions since the public could be thrown into a panic and it would also distort our public relations image to world in general," The youngest Oil Baron at only twenty seven - Miss Eva Suarez had said quietly.

"Miss Suarez, considerin' what Johnny's been sayin' in public is already tarnishin' our general image." Mr. Andrew King said as he had risen to his full height of six foot three inches, his large scarred black hands hitting the desk with a slam.

Seeing that his audience was puzzled with his spoke words, King continued. "He's been callin' me a nigger and other derogatory terms to my face. Granted that it is not justification for a kill, it iz still a good enough reason ta remain a good distance away from him. I 'ave also been told that he is very interested in mine and Steve's oil refineries and rigs fer some time now."

The aforementioned Oil Baron who is part Cuban and part American had also stood up to address his concerns against Twoeagles. "What Andrew said is true; John is trying to monopolize the oil industry by buying us out- one by one. With him as the big banana in Louisiana, he can actually do it with little trouble if there is any at all."

After a pause of breath, he continued. "We 'ave to stop him before his plans would even bear fruit or it would be too late."

"Gentlemen, Eva is only askin' that we don't act too rashly." Jason McGregor had also stood up in defense of his fellow Texan and Aggie (alumni of Texas A&M University).

"Alright, that is **enough** out of the four of you. Now sit down or I'll throw you out of this office right **now**," President Burke said with a firm and commanding tone as he too had stood up from his end of the technologically advanced situation table and slammed his tanned hands on the said table's glass top.

"What we are discussing here is the plan of action for Soun here to be done by his team," Jack Burke added as he had waited for the quarreling Barons to sit down before he himself did. "For the moment, assassination is out of the question unless the situation warrants for it. Of course, none of us wanted a civil war to break out in your respective countries so we have to at least contain whatever action Twoeagles is willing to take before it gets out of hand. Am I **clear** in this, people?"

"Yes," Everybody else said meekly in unison.

"Alright, now let us continue with the meeting. What would you suggest we do when Twoeagles does announce his plans – militaristic or not – to the public in his wedding reception." The president said in a calmer voice, relieved that the heated situation earlier was easily defused.

"My suggestion, Mr. President is to place a majority of our forces in the forests and highlands near his palatial ranch and have them on standby for any movement of his forces." Satoshi Yamamoto had said in an evenly toned voice since he too was holding back his anger at his fellow Oklahoman Oil Baron. "The Omega Force will rescue the kidnapped President and First Daughter with us providing the needed cover in their escape."

"I second the proposal," Steve said as he had raised his right hand almost immediately.

"I'll third it since it would keep Ol' Man Johnny on his toes if and when he would use his private army haphazardly," Jason said while he and the other men across the table had smiled at each other.

"Anyone here who would disagree, raise your hands." Burke said as he looked at the assembled group of influential people impassively. Not one hand was raised in the spoken request.

"Well then, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you for your time, Gentlemen… and Lady." President Burke said as he stood up and shook the visitors' hands as the latter group were leaving the room.

After the Oil Barons had left, the president had called the mulling Soun over to follow him into the Oval Office, two floors above.

Along the way, Burke had told him of his last meeting with President Nonoka in the said office and how the older man was adamant about using a covert military force to contain whatever political turmoil would be stirred up in Baton Rouge.

After the duo had entered the office and the guards had closed the door, Burke had immediately headed for his desk and motioned the taller man to follow him.

"Soun, the success of this operation depends on you and your team, so be very careful out there." The president began as he had put his hand on the other man's frail left shoulder. "I personally cannot bring the Delta Force or any military unit there for obvious reasons so I'll leave this one to you."

"I won't disappoint you, sir." Soun said as he had given his commander in chief a quick salute before turning around smartly and heading for the door.

-oOo-

Edwards Air Force Base Meeting Room – 4:00 PM Eastern Time, March 26, 2043

Soun was now walking back and forth on the wooden podium as he had waited for the remaining members of the Omega Force to show up in this meeting.

Both Ranma and Akane had shown up early along with the members "borrowed" from Mithril and Texas Intelligence. All of them were already sitting down in the aluminium chairs placed between the podium and the door.

On the other hand, his favourite grandson- Ryu Saotome was currently playing hide and seek with his other men as well as the other enlisted personnel in the hanger.

Only the newly recruited civilians have not arrived yet but Soun could understand why since they have their own businesses to take care of.

After only fifteen minutes did the rest of the team arrive and the briefing could actually begin in earnest.

"Gentlemen…and Ladies, I have called you up since we have a very hot mission in our hands." Soun said as he had began his prepared speech. "We have reason to believe that both the President and First Daughter of Louisiana would be held against their own will by a certain Oklahoman Oil Baron named John Twoeagles."

"Sir, unless there is proof that they are actually being held hostage, we cannot move a single muscle against Twoeagles and his henchmen without getting arrested ourselves." Koji Karakuchi said from his seat at the front row.

Judging from everyone else's expressions, the owner of Karakuchi Industries had said their own thoughts out loud.

"I know that, Koji. For now, we will just prepare our assault and coordinate it with our allies, the other Oil Barons. I have already prepared the mission parameters for all of you and my men will give them to you as soon as you board your respective Hercules transport planes. Just read it thoroughly on your way to your respective destinations."

"Wait, Dad. Please explain what you mean by respective destinations." Akane had said in reply since she was puzzled by the last statement.

"Akane, I want you to talk with your friend- Yuka Tsukihime in Austin at noon next Monday about your upcoming role in this mission. She will also take care of Ryu for the time being as her vacation house is one of the safest places for him at the moment," Soun then told his youngest daughter as he had placed a hand on her armoured shoulder.

Ranma had already left to pick up his only child on his father in law's request.

"I will also send some of the other team members with you so that Twoeagles' intelligence would be confused as to our real intentions," The one star general had added as soon as he had seen his son in law and grandson return to the room.

Turning to rest of the team, Soun continued. "As for those of you who are not included in my daughter's entourage, your plane will land in the small airport near our target where the Oil Barons' forces are similarly converged. The other Hercules will follow shortly after dropping off its passengers and a required recharge."

After a brief pause to catch his breath, Soun then added. "Koji, you and your wife will be joining me and Kimiko along with the little ones in a third Hercules with a brief stopover in Atlanta and Palestine. After we are dropped off in Texas, it will join its sister ships' in the small airport that I have mentioned earlier."

After glancing at his watch, he said. "Are there any other questions?"

When no one answered, he smiled widely. "Good, now let's move out."

-oOo-

In the air routes over the nation of Texas – 9:30 PM Central Time, same day

Onboard one of the three modified C-130J-30 Super Hercules planes that was bound for the Texas Naval Guard Airfield, Akane had thought about the reason why she was separated from her husband and about half of the team.

At the very least, she had company in the form of the red hot couple for four years straight – Takuya and Izumi Kanbarra, their mutual chubby friend - Junpei Shibayama, Ikki Tenryou and his wife of six years – Arika Tenryou, and finally, the newest recruits of the team – Special Agents Luke and Tear fon Fabre.

Her six year old son, Ryu was asleep on her lap for the whole trip, his normally light blue eyes hidden by its thin brown curtains.

It was Luke and Tear who approached her from their own steel seats in the rear of the plane.

"Ma'am, is anything the matter?" The red headed agent said in low tones as he had sat on Akane's left, careful not to let his worry be passed on to the other members of the team sleeping behind them as well as not to awaken the young lad that was dozing on his superior's armoured lap.

Akane could barely hear him above the right wing propeller's droning sound just outside. Tear had sat on the older woman's right, her angular face also filled with worry for her new commander.

"No, Luke. I'm just puzzled as to why we had been sent on different planes," The blue haired woman said to the younger couple in hushed tones.

"Well, Ma'am. It is probable that we can easily deflect any suspicion on our activities than if we had all gone in one location," Tear had also made her point while talking in the same manner as her commander. "Also, it would be very dangerous for Ryou here to join us in the coming rescue attempt."

"True, but for most of us, it would only mean a longer trip by car just to join in the fireworks."

"I'm alright with that, Ma'am since we can visit Mom and our two lovable tots before heading over to Twoeagle's place. We could just say that we were visiting family there," Luke answered plainly, although there was a sense of pride when he spoke about his and Tear's two kids.

"Ok, but I still worry for Ranma and the others though." Akane had trouble masking her anxiety. "They're practically in enemy territory right now."

"At least, they're with our allies. As for us, we'd be pretty much alone for the most part." Luke had tried once again to reassure his commander that everything would be alright.

"Thanks for your concern, Luke…you too, Tear. I think I know what you guys mean. For now, let's take a brief nap since we have a long week ahead of us." Akane said as she had absently brushed her son's dark brown hair from his forehead with her left hand as she playfully shooed her subordinates with her other hand.

She had shared a single thought with Yuka who was standing in the balcony leading from the bedroom she shared with her husband and staring at the clear night sky.

'John Twoeagles, you've just met your match.'


	2. Rainy Days and Mondays

This is the real first chapter of this five chapter story. Last chapter, we were given a bit of the preview of the real plot of this story which is a rescue mission of sorts.

Here, we would now be introduced to two new other characters with one of them being not who we would have expected. I also added a few cameos from a certain late eighties or early nineties real mecha series so watch out for that one as well.

Read and enjoy, everyone.

* * *

Chapter 1 – **Rainy Days and Mondays**

Receiving room of Republic of Louisiana Embassy– Monday, April 2, 2044

"Alright, what am I supposed to do? Everyone else has his or her mission objective so what's mine?" Lieutenant Commander Akane Saotome had asked her old high school friend and now client – Yuka Tsukihime.

Akane is the one of the senior female members as well as second in tactical command of the newly commissioned 2nd Special Forces Operational Detachment- Omega.

The said detachment is known to those in government circles and military forces alike as the Omega Force - a counter terrorist force to be reckoned with thanks to its state of the art mobile and personal firepower and its skilled members that had been brought in from both the civilian and para-military rank and file.

The 2nd SFOD-O was created to keep in pace with Mithril and other privatized para-military organizations that had somehow super seeded its well known predecessor - 1st SFOD-D or more commonly known as the Delta Force by means of using more covert operatives using civilians and para-military assets in their missions.

Both thirty-something women were sitting down in the light blue couch in the middle of the embassy's receiving room while Akane's son Ryu Saotome was playing tag with the embassy's two male guards.

Other guards were posted outside in specified foot patrols to keep the whole building safe from intruders.

The Undersecretary of Energy of the Louisianan government was reading over the printed notes that she had taken from her office in Baton Rouge, a few days earlier when she had answered.

"Simple, Akane. Your job is to rescue Sayuri Nonoka from John Twoeagles. She's a good friend of mine as well as the only daughter of my boss, President Nonoka. Officially, they were visiting Twoeagle's ranch in Oklahoma. In reality, they were being held there against their own will by Twoeagles himself since yesterday morning." The light brown haired government official had told her friend in a relaxed tone.

"His plan is quite simple, really. The President is an old man. Sayuri is still young and single. With the old man's term nearing its end, all Twoeagles has to do is marry Sayuri to secure his place in the Louisiana presidency." She continued evenly.

"What a manipulative ba-lony eating loser. I hope all Sooners are not like him," Akane replied as she had shook her head in disbelief. She had changed her words midway because her six year old son had come to within hearing distance of their conversation as he entered the room's front door.

The brown haired boy was now briefly examining the spacious room's Picasso paintings with his eyes.

A few seconds earlier, he had tried to run a single pudgy finger across the canvas since he actually thought it was a window or something but was quickly reprimanded by his panicking mother to the other woman's amusement.

The young lad had also ran his 1:10 scaled blue Trans Am die cast duel car on its concrete walls' light brown painted surfaces as circled the whole room. In addition, he also made some engine sounds as he was doing so as he pretended to drive his little toy around the said office.

Before he had returned to the room where his mother was being entertained by the government official, Ryu had actually peeked at some of the other occupied rooms to satisfy his overwhelming curiosity, something which is still in abundance within all of his six years of living with his loving parents.

The two frantic security guards were doing their best to keep the hyperactive boy from causing further mayhem while not making him cry in the process.

"I know what you mean, 'Kane. Actually, a lot of Sooners and even the other Oil Barons secretly hate him 'cause he's such an arrogant jerk behind the cameras. They only kept their mouths shut since they had feared armed retribution from his well-funded and powerful army." Yuka was saying as she had put down the papers to the coffee table and watched Akane stand up to pick up her only son.

"Alright, I'll head over there and rescue Miss Nonoka. By the way, when is the wedding anyway?" The thirty two year old mother and commander said as she was already taking her son's left hand with her right gloved hand while picking up her fully-loaded faded blue back pack with her left.

"It will be held exactly twenty-four hours from now, 'Kane. Better hurry," The now thirty three year old Secretary of Energy replied as she had escorted her armed and armored friend to the almost full and damp parking lot.

The child's aqua blue eyes was looking this way and that as he tried to figure out where he was going as he stayed close to his mother's side. As opposed to her friend, Yuka was only wearing her gray pant suit and white pumps.

The two women had stopped in front of a black Lamborghini Reventón – code named: Stiletto. The black car's sleek form successfully hid its fearsome weaponry well. All three of its weapons could pop out from their hiding places in three seconds flat.

Behind the front grilles lie the two linked machine guns. Both small bore weapons still use high density rounds for additional damage.

At the car's roof is a pop up turret with a Gauss gun. The said weapon is the car's main armament and has also doubled as a perfect weapon for sneak attacks. This is mostly due to the absence of smoke in the long titanium barrel upon the specially made round's discharge and its overall silent operation.

Finally, the car's oddly shaped hind lights rise up and slide in to reveal the two heavy rockets and their titanium pylons hidden behind the said lights. The heavy rocket pylons were installed as sort of tribute to the car's predecessor – the Hauberk Custom.

The Hauberk Custom was destroyed during the Saotome's third mission with the Omega Force.

Thankfully, the couple had escaped the destruction of their beloved car as they were rescued by a gutsy Technical Sergeant Kaname Chidori driving their other car – the Roadrunner in the midst of an all out vehicular melee.

For Ranma and Akane, the loss of their beloved vehicle was actually overshadowed by the demise of their shared friend - Fortunato "Fortune" Hunter.

The said overweight detective had driven a well armed and armored gray bus that was fully loaded with high explosives as he had made a suicide run from the fortress city to engage a thousand bikers that had surrounded the Omega Force in the highway just north of the said city.

As soon as Ranma and the others had left the battlefield in their shot up vehicles, Fortune had stopped pressing the triggers of his ride's weapons and pressed the red trigger in the center of the steering wheel instead, all of which he had done with a content smile on his face.

'Farewell, Ranma and Akane.' The Filipino detective had thought with a sad smile as some of the rear mounted explosives had been triggered and were already starting a fratricide among the other explosives. 'Consider this as my thanks for accepting me as your friend. Mom and Dad, I'm coming home.'

The powerful series of explosions that followed had reduced the nearly nine hundred gang members and their vehicles that had surrounded the bus to about two hundred or so.

As for the fallen hero himself, only little pieces of his battered and burned body had been found and he had to be patched up for his upcoming funeral.

Fortune did it so that the team could escape from an overwhelming rout as well as to whittle the enemies' numbers to something the Omega Force and the incoming militia back up could handle on their own.

In return, the Filipino detective was buried with full military honors by the various militias and the US 2 government.

Not bad for a police detective that was kicked out of the Albany police force for disobedience and dereliction of duty simply because he had gone berserk at the death of his partner in the force and shot a druggie thrice through the latter's mouth.

As thanks for Omega Force's efforts, the US 2 government's Department of Defense and its para-military ally – Mithril had constructed the Stiletto with the Hauberk Custom in mind.

The new car was also given an advanced female artificial intelligence program similar to those used by its older "brothers" – Altron and Arbalest.

With the special autopilot/gunner software program of Karakuchi Industries installed in its vehicular computer, the car's AI could drive itself independently; and even double as its gunner when no gunner is available

The sports car also has two high resolution targeting computers for both driver and gunner. With the Electronic Conceal System almost perfected by Mithril, the car could actually disguise itself from almost any sensor including infrared but ironically, still remain partly visible to the naked eye.

The car's limited power output had actually prevented it from achieving total invisibility, thus the Research Division of Mithril has recently started doing some research in making a hydrogen powered turbine engine capable of generating a thousand kilowatts or more to allow the ECS to achieve its full potential for its three customized vehicles.

Sadly, the A.I. itself could not act as both driver and gunner simultaneously but it could activate the car's Automatic Threat Acquisition Device to take over the weapon systems while it handled the car's autopilot system.

The mysterious thing about this car's female AI is her ability to bond with the family that owned it in nearly two years. This was why when the driver door had opened upward automatically; a joyous child immediately had gone in to play with his "elder sister".

The boy had even named the AI – Angela since her melodious voice had reminded him of angels

'He loves to play with his big sister, doesn't he?' Yuka had thought ,while she was watching the car and its diminutive owner play computer games using the targeting computers' five inch screens and teasing each other incessantly through the car's polarized bullet proof windows, along with Akane.

The government official had wished that her nearly seven year old daughter and thirty three year old husband were with her right now but they had to stay at their vacation home nearby.

This was done so that the stuck up Vice President of Louisiana, as well as those in the Louisianan government who were connected with John Twoeagles, would not be suspicious of her actions.

'Oh, Daisuke. I wish you and Hana would see this. Then again, Ryu would be our guest for the next two days while Ranma and Akane do their mission.'

"Something wrong, Yuka?" The auto duelist asked as she had studied her friend's flushing face.

"Um, n-no. I was j-just thinking about my o-own family. T-that's all," Yuka stammered as she had tried to hide her blush from the boy who was now looking at her through the car's transparent window. She knew that the AI would also be looking at her through its side cameras as well.

"Time for us to leave, Ryu. Hana's waiting for you back home and your Mom's going to rescue a princess along with your Dad and big sister," Yuka said both to cover her embarrassment and to subtly remind Akane that they did not have that much time remaining before the said wedding itself.

"Alright, Auntie Yuka. " The little boy had said with hopeful eyes as the car door again opened automatically. "Will Mom, Dad, and Sis be able to come back soon?"

"Maybe, since this rescue mission will only be for a few days anyway." Yuka answered to Akane's relief.

"Auntie Yuka's right, squirt. We'll be back before ya even know it," a high pitched feminine voice had added from the car's interior speakers.

"Even then, I'll have to buy some more food stuff to make up for my husband's appetite. I hope Daisuke doesn't mind us being there in your vacation home."Akane said as she was entering her car.

Akane had pulled the boy into her arms for a farewell hug before giving him to Yuka. She then entered her car and pulled the door down to close it.

"He won't, believe me. Nor would I. Just complete the mission and I will make a feast upon your arrival there," Yuka was saying to Akane through the opened window as the latter was strapping up and doing some system checks. "Oh yeah, I also credited about five thousand dollars in gold to your auto bank card for some travel money."

As soon as the system checks were done and Akane had thanked her friend, the Stiletto had left the embassy's parking lot with both Yuka and Ryu waving them off.

-oOo-

Before leaving the fortress city and capital of Texas, Akane had paid a little visit to the local AADA branch in South Austin.

The sun had shone brightly in the now clearing blue sky with some gunfire heard from a distance. She was a bit awed to be entering the AADA world headquarters, situated in the center of South Austin.

The twenty story building has held all of the dueling and personal records of its members worldwide. Even disputes between auto duelists from different countries were solved here.

Although since the bluish-black haired duelist was only after road and weather conditions, any AADA center could offer the same type of services. This was why she headed straight for the line of counters where AADA operators punch up the necessary information for a small fee.

The counters' six lanes were themselves filled with anxious courier drivers and duelists planning for a long trip through the countryside.

While she was waiting for her turn, Akane had let her brown eyes wander in the spacious room where the duelists would wait for their turn to be called for other concerns that were beyond the courteous counters' authorities.

There were rows of sofa seats where some duelists and most of the duelists' family members or fellow traveling companions had sat comfortably while talking to one another. Some vending machines filled with various beverages or snacks could also be seen in the room's sides.

There was even a mini playground where the toddlers were seen playing around while their parents were waiting in line.

The duelist could also see three wide screened television sets placed in the overhangs above their heads, each one facing a particular set of rows so that the building's clients could be entertained as they had waited for their turn.

She had even seen some older children playing tag within the massive open space with some elder members chasing them.

It was this scene that had quickly reminded Akane of her own misadventures in the AADA offices with Ryu back in Meridith, New Hampshire.

As Akane had given her membership card to the female operator with shoulder length red hair who was handling basic inquiries, the said orange haired operator had asked some general questions about her route before typing quickly at her console. The younger woman had also asked for the reason behind the trip.

"Sorry, but that's a well kept secret." Akane replied to the crest-fallen operator. The female operator had sadly called up her supervisor before asking for an autograph.

The blue haired duelist had complied and even left the operator with an old key-chain that held her spare keys for the Hussar Custom.

The newly arrived supervisor in his business suit had cocked his head in confusion at the sight of the young operator tightly hugging the duelist and saying thank you over and over.

The scene had even brought some smiles to the entire room as the customers and the other operators had a good laugh at the incident.

"This way please, Mrs. Saotome." The supervisor had said with a bow as the blushing operator had let go of the similarly embarrassed duelist.

As Akane was entering the door, she then heard a loud squeal behind her.

Looking back, she had to shake her head in disbelief at seeing the long haired operator and two of her colleagues jumping up and down the concrete floor and hugging each other in joy.

One of the three girls had dark brown hair reaching to the base of her neck while the other had short black hair.

The brown haired girl's glasses would had nearly fallen off their places if not for the small chain holding them to their positions.

The other operators were already yelling at them to go back to their work, ignoring the laughing customers. ("Vanessa, Sammy, and Kim, get back to work!")

As for the customer (and the staff) themselves, they finally had something that had broken the monotony of just waiting in line before being served.

As soon the mahogany door was shut, a suave voice from the black swivel chair that was behind a rosewood desk had pierced the silence.

"Ok, Akane. What did you give Sammy to make her squeal like that? I clearly heard her along with Vanessa and Kim squealing their hearts out as you were entering the room."

'That voice.' Akane thought as she had recognized the voice from her distant past.

"Is that you, Shinosuke?" she said aloud.

The leather chair had swiveled around to reveal the amused face of Shinosuke Higure in a two piece brown single breasted suit.

"Hi Akane, long time no see. So how is ol' Ran-chan and what the heck did you give Sammy?"

"Well, he's busy right now. As for the girl, I just gave her my old key chain for the Hussar Custom." Akane replied quietly. She did not want her old high school friend to know what they were really doing.

"Don't worry about me leaking your secret, 'Kane. We're actually on the plan as well. Y' see, AADA is also involved in this rescue mission, officially in a way." The AADA big-shot said with a dazzling smile.

"What would be written in the papers is that the President of Louisiana had secretly made a deal with the other oil barons to publicly humiliate John Twoeagles in the event that his only daughter would be forced to marry him," Shinosuke said before he had taken a quick sip at the iced tea placed in front of him.

He then added. "The Oil Barons in turn secretly asked us to create a band of duelists who will help them with their cause. It is in this way that the Omega Force would still remain anonymous to pretty much everyone."

"And you guys get all the glory, nice." Akane had to again shake her head, this time in resigned disgust.

"Well, it is a nice cover story. Also, you guys still get all the credit, just with out the fame and fortune that goes with it."

"Oh well, I guess I have to go. Sayuri isn't going to wait forever to be rescued. " Akane said with an audible sigh. "Be seeing you, Shinosuke."

"Good luck and remember, drive offensively."The AADA replied with a toothy smile as he had stood up from his chair.

Shinosuke had led the duelist towards her waiting car. Along the way, the stocky supervisor had given her all the printouts regarding road conditions and bandit activity on her route as well as a slip of paper.

On the said slip of paper was the telephone number that Akane would call upon her arrival in New Tulsa. Both men had waved merrily as the Reventón had backed up and left the parking lot before heading back to work.

-oOo-

Akane had made a second brief stopover at the Austin Branch of Uncle Al's Auto Stop and Gunnery Stop to buy some more ammunition for the Stiletto as well as herself and improved body armor for Sayuri when she and the rest of the team would rescue the young woman.

She had walked briskly past mannequins that were wearing various sets of body armor, improved body armor, blended types of body armor and improved body armor, and even military body armor.

It was the last set of armors that were just too expensive for her taste and that her father had already placed a special order to Fabre Industries for the Omega Force's use after this mission.

The duelist had made her choices of ammunition much like she would choose between brands of milk and bread. She had also placed an order for a set of improved body armor as soon as she finished placing all her purchases in a steel push cart.

Akane then paid for all her purchases and had pushed the stainless steel cart towards the waiting Stiletto in the establishment's wide parking lot. The whole shopping spree had only taken thirty minutes before she placed the ammunition and improved body armor in the car's trunk that was located in the front.

After she entered and turned on the power plant, the duelist had told her virtual daughter that they could now start their mission.

"We shoulda bought some limpet mines or even some C-4 plastic explosives for a good diversion," mused Angela as she had noticed the absence of the said explosives in the earlier purchases that were now kept in her trunk.

"No need for that, dear. I heard from Ikki that Takuya had bought enough limpet mines for a small war when they stopped by here yesterday. I just hope neither he nor Junpei would goof up in placing those mines."

-oOo-

Interstate 35, Waco Out-skirts - 1:30 PM

"Achoo."

"Eww, I hope that cold's not catching or I'll be staying at a hotel with Hikari and the other girls along with their children." Izumi Kanbarra said with disdain as she had glared at both the driver and gunner of a dark blue GMC Savanna Van LS G1500. "Oh course, it'll be on your accounts too."

"It's not, honey." Takuya Kanbarra said as soon as he had wiped off the snot away with his light brown handkerchief that he had taken under his improved body armor where his blue jeans lay.

His blonde wife of four years was always nagging him on using tissue or hankies so that their little girl - Hikari Kanbarra would not use her pink dress' sleeves whenever she sneezes. "It's probably because someone was thinkin' of us."

"Must be Miss Akane since she's always playing mother hen with us," Junpei added while keeping his eyes on the road. "Taki, we shouldn't have told her about the setting of the limpet mines in TwoEagle's pad before we left the airfield since she'll definitely worry about us goofin' off while we set 'em up."

"That's why I'm here with you guys, JP." Izumi said with a wide grin. "Still, it was a great idea for us to pose as the wedding cakes' delivery service since the best bakery this side of the Mississippi is in downtown Dallas, Texas."

"Yeah, it still sucks that both Ikki and Koji had gone ahead of us by a whole day." Takuya mused as he had studied the radar and the side mirror. "It'll much more fun if we can all chat along the way with our spankin' brand new laser induction communication system."

"True, true." The blonde passenger in the middle seat said in agreement. "By the way, why did Doris not join us in this mission? I thought that she had taken the week off from NBC?"

Hearing the name of his girlfriend of three years, Junpei's broad shoulders had fallen in a slight slump.

"She was, but a friend of hers in the station had gotten sick with the flu so she took over the girl's weather forecasting duties until this coming Friday."

"Don't be so glum, man." Takuya had interjected with a tap on his older friend's shoulders. "We're here so you ain't alone in this mission."

"Taki's right. We're the three musketeers of the Last Frontier Courier Services as well as members of the illustrious Omega Force. Sadness, beware of our awesome power."

Both young men had to laugh at the impromptu speech made by the token female. Finally, JP said from the bottom of his heart. "Thanks, guys. It's no wonder we're all like a family than a fighting force."

Before the other two could let loose a few tears themselves, a few beeps were heard from the Security Six's various alarms, meaning that company is coming and it is not the neighborly type either.

-oOo-

As the Lamborghini was about thirty miles north of Austin, Angela had reported the appearance of several objects on the road ahead as seen on her sensors.

"Are they mines or junk, Angel?" Akane was trying to peer past the delivery van that was blocking her view of the road. Suddenly, the metallic green van in front of her had stopped in an abrupt manner.

The auto duelist then turned to the right to avoid a collision, briefly leaving the road in the process. The AI then belatedly told her what the object that was picked up by her radar is – a bale of hay that the van had unfortunately slammed into.

As the black car had crested the next hill, Akane had to groan at the number of damp hay bales scattered throughout the wet asphalted road.

More than that, there were some vehicles that were either pushing the offending bales out of the way or found themselves stuck in the muddy fields on both sides of the road. All in all, it was one big traffic mess.

Angela had told her driver and "mother" that they could avoid most of the obstacles at their current speed of sixty miles per hour.

Akane had thought about it for a second before shaking her head and told her "daughter" that she would slow down to about forty five miles per hour as a sign of respect for the other drivers.

As soon as the Stilletto had cleared the traffic mess, its driver and AI had seen the reason for it – an overturned red farm truck resting on its right side. One of the truck's steel belted front wheels was completely blown away while the other was still spinning on its axle. The black sports car had parked just behind it.

"I know this will delay us a bit but we have ta help out. I kinda doubt everyone else here would do the same." " Akane said as she had took off her safety harness and opened the door. "Oh yeah, call for an ambulance so we can leave quickly."

"It won't be much of a delay, Mom. Besides, I see that some of 'em are even ready to shoot the truck itself to kingdom come. Thermal sensors indicate that there is someone in the cab and he's not moving, just breathing slightly." Angela had answered in her mother's ear fitting headset.

The duelist then ran for the truck and immediately went to the vehicle's cab. The driver side door was sprung but not yet fully opened.

Akane still had trouble opening the door completely but manged to do so before lifting the large middle aged man in green body armor out of the cab's interior and onto the asphalt.

As soon as the duelist's blue boots had landed on the ground with a soft thump, a sleek blue and black car with a Texas Ranger insignia on its side had arrived. The officer had taken over the job of taking care of the man while Akane hurriedly went in the Stiletto.

While the Reventón had left the area in a squeal of all terrain tires, a red and white ambulance was fast approaching the accident scene from the capital city's direction.

-oOo-

Two hours later or 3:30 PM, the Stiletto had reached the town of Waco. Taking a quick peek at the charge indicators, Akane had passed the whole town so she could save some traveling time.

A few miles north of Waco, she had seen a big aluminum sign with these words being written on it:

_Ross' Truck Stop – Next Cutoff_

Written below it in scrawny handwriting via a black marker was this:

_Still in Business so don't count us out yet! __**Free**__ charge ups all day._

"If this isn't an obvious trap, I don't know what is."Angela's snappy tone had betrayed her exasperation at how dumb some criminals were.

"I know, dear. Still, it's best we take care of it before some idiotic traveler does fall for it." The duelist replied as she had nodded in agreement with her daughter.

Even then, Akane still made a plan of her own ever since she had read the AADA bandit report nearly three hours earlier as they were leaving Austin.

'Thank goodness, everyone else had passed it by earlier.' The duelist had thought with relief.

The said report had told her that the said truck stop had been completely destroyed by a desert gang attack and that some local bandits had been using it for their own deadly scams.

"Are ya sure, Mom? I mean, we still have a wedding ta crash up north."

"Give me ten minutes and we'll bag these nitwits," Akane said as she had powered up all the car's fearsome weaponry. As one, all weaponry had jutted out of their hiding places in the car's customized and composite body.

"Ok. Let's do it."

The black Lamborghini had taken the cutoff and headed for the truck stop, a mile away. The first thing that both mother and AI daughter saw was the truck stop's massive and holed concrete walls. Its nine inch thick front gates had looked like it was blown violently off its steel tracks.

Tacked on the concrete wall nearest to the gates was an aluminum sign with these words written on it:

_Honk and drive in. We got free charge ups and coffee. All ammos and grenades are at half-price._

"Definitely a trap."

"I agree with ya there, dear."

Akane had pushed the horn twice as she slowed down the car enough to enter the wrecked truck stop at a crawl.

Suddenly, the duelist had heard gunfire from her left as well as her right. Even worse, a battered metallic green midsize car had just showed up in front of the Stilletto, 20mm rockets whooshing out of its two front launcher tubes where its headlights were supposed to be.

Of the shots that missed the car, some of them had holed the still erect structures while others ricocheted off the five inch thick concrete walls.

As soon as she recovered from her shock and put the Reventón in gear, Akane had instructed her daughter to knock out the pedestrian gunners while she traded fire with the junk car chasing them around the decimated truck stop.

A minute into the battle, two of the bandits with tripod-mounted machine guns were dead with the enemy car's plastic rear end was also tattered from accurately fired high density machine gun rounds followed by the Gauss gun's stainless steel needles moving at supersonic speeds.

The Stiletto had only suffered some damage to the car's rear and sides where some of the rockets and bullets had hit it.

After the second minute had passed, the remaining bandits and the car's lone occupant were also killed and the car itself was destroyed by a heavy rocket.

"Stay alert, Angel. I'm goin' to do some salvaging for a bit," Akane said as she had exited the car for a short while.

After a bit of searching, Akane had recovered a .45 Colt Magnum, a half-full box of rockets, and another half-full box of regular machine gun ammo. One of the bandits even had 140 Texan dollars hidden in his torn black faded jeans' back right pocket.

"Ok, let's get outta here." The female duelist said as she had again entered her car and strapped herself in.

The black Reventón had backed up until it passed the busted gate and slowly turned around. It was during this maneuver that another escapee from the scrap yard has shown up from the other side of the truck stop.

The Stiletto had accelerated quickly as it made its way back to the highway with the other car in hot pursuit. The chasing red car had fired its recoilless rifle at the lead car's rear, making some more damage at the lead car's composite rear armor.

But the said chasing car was not able to survive the armor piercing heavy rocket that met it head on.

"Scratch two moving junk piles," Akane said in triumph as her lips had curved to a satisfied smirk while she had pushed the various weapon switches in the dashboard to the off position.

"Way to go, Mom. I guess they won't bother anyone else anymore," The A.I. gushed with pride.

-oOo-

While his youngest daughter was fighting the bandits in the Ross truck stop, General Soun Tendou was fighting a different kind of battle.

He was defending himself from some bureaucrats in Oklahoma and Louisiana who had heard rumors about his team's involvement in the build up of some of the Oil Barons' armed forces and had called his bluff in the Tri-media.

"Gentlemen, please. I have no say in what they (the Oil Barons) say or do, " He said in a radio and television interview at the fon Fabre mansion's living room. At the time, he was wearing a double breasted piece suit since he was on semi-official business.

The black haired general added with disdain. "I am only here because I was invited by Mrs. Suzanne fon Fabre to test the viability of the new military body armor for my team. Even my wife and one of my grandsons are here with me so they can see for themselves what I am up to down here."

"I stand by my husband not because I am his wife but because he has nothing to hide from me or our family," Kimiko Tendou had added as she sat beside her husband on the couch and held the hem of her yellow sun dress tightly. "Furthermore, he is only a brigadier general in the US 2 Army, not a charismatic leader that you made him out to be. He is just looking out not only for my daughter and son in law but also to the members of the Omega Force that became our extended family of sorts. So please, let my husband **do his job while you do yours**."

After hearing the stirring words from the elderly couple, the media men had packed up and left the manor since their scoop for the day was already done.

-oOo-

After finding the highway, the Stiletto then headed for the small town of Ross to see if there were any charging stations or garages there. It had taken five minutes at its current speed to reach Ross proper.

As the black sports car was cruising through the town's main street, a local sheriff had flagged them down.

"Excuse me, Ma'am but I heard some gunfire followed by two explosions just south of here. Do you have any idea on what went on there?" He asked after Akane had lowered her window.

"Actually, it was my car and I who took down the bandits that had commandeered the truck stop south of here."

"You don't say. 'scuse me fer a minute." The sheriff had backed up a few feet from the car door and made a call on his hand-held radio. After chatting for a bit, he then returned to the waiting Lamborghini.

'Wow that was quite a feat you made there, Ma'am. Please follow me." The sheriff had led the black sports car to the garage where it was repaired and recharged.

The Gauss and machine guns magazines were also refilled to its maximum level. Finally, two replacement heavy rockets were installed on the used pylons on both sides of the car's rear end.

While the car was being repaired and given a quick paint job, a local reporter was interviewing the duelist. Since she was instantly recognized, Akane had told the reporter that she was in Texas for some rest and relaxation. She had also added that her husband and son were waiting for her in Oklahoma City.

-oOo-

While his wife was being interviewed in Ross, Ranma Saotome was already overseeing the preparation of the Omega Force members that were with him in an undisclosed location in the panhandle part of Oklahoma.

It was Sousuke Sagara who had told him about his wife's interview and the possible bad weather in the next twenty four hours as the mercenary was watching the four o'clock news advisory along with his own newly wedded wife- Kaname.

"Hmm, that was pretty sloppy of her ta be caught on camera in that part of the world." The pony tailed duelist said as he had rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Then again, it does make some sense since her collage roommate is in Texas as well so she can say actually say that she was visitin' a friend at the time."

Realizing that he was now rambling, the pony tailed leader of the Omega Force had added. "Sousuke, tell the others ta hurry up wit' the preparations before the storm does hit. We'll roll out as soon as we can get mobile after the storms 'ave passed."

With a crisp salute, the Mithril mercenary had only answered. "Yes, Sir."

-oOo-

After all the work has been done - a full hour later, Akane had taken a quick peek at her Q&Q wristwatch. To her dismay, it was fifteen minutes after five pm.

While the duelist waited for the repairs to finish, she had also sold her loot to the ammunition store just a block away from the garage, earning a hundred dollars more to her credit.

As Akane was entering the Stiletto, a red haired teen aged girl came in the garage running. The girls said that the sheriff was asking if she would like to make some salvage claim on the two vehicles that the older woman had destroyed.

"Nah, you guys need the money more than I do. Tell him ta give my share to the local clinic or somethin'," The senior member of the Omega Force replied. She was already doing a complete system check before backing her car out of the garage and heading on her way.

The Stiletto with the brand new paint job then made its way out of town while everyone was waving their goodbyes at the black sports car and its driver.

As the car made its way north, Angela had picked up a news report from a local radio station praising her and her talking car for their actions at the truck stop.

"Don't tell me, you talked back at the garage." Akane's tone had turned cold at the sudden realization as her hands suddenly froze up.

"Actually, I squealed a bit while they were fixing my damaged armor. I never knew that I could actually be ticklish in places. Still, I got them to believe that the second hero is a car not an A.I. of one. Thank god for Knight Rider and the Love Bug."

"Alright, you're off the hook for now. Just be careful, not all duel cars have A.I." Akane's voice and facial expression had mellowed dramatically as she spoke. "And even if they do have one, only one A.I. can be considered my beloved teen aged daughter."

"Aww, Mom. You're just as bad as Dad."

* * *

I do hope you liked the Saotome "siblings" featured in this chapter. For the Macross or Robotech fans, the Bridge Bunnies are here in force. They are the three counter girls that were squealing their hearts out in the AADA HQ.

I would like to apologize for the SI inclusion but I have to admit that was the best way for an self insert to cross over anyway.

On the next chapter, you would see how much trouble traveling north just to crash a wedding party could really be.

See ya there.


	3. Storm Runners

Gee, three chapters down, two more to go.

Like I said in the end notes last chapter, Akane and her AI daughter - Angela will be facing both the natural and man made roadblocks in this one.

I had even added a cute little family scene in this chapter to fit with the family genre. I do hope you like it.

Read and enjoy this chapter entitled...

* * *

Chapter 2 – **Storm Runners**

Texas Highway One near Hillsboro, Texas– 5: 30 PM, April 2, 2044 Tuesday

The Stiletto was cruising thorough the concrete highway on its way to Bartlesville, Oklahoma and the Twoeagles ranch that lied some a few kilometers beyond it at a steady rate of seventy five miles per hour.

Along the way, Akane had to admire the wildflowers that have lined up on the asphalted highway's sides as they have obediently bent to the will of the wind.

Her gloved hands had gone idle for the meantime since she had let her A.I. daughter- Angela take over the wheel, leaving her some time to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Since the road was flat for a few miles or so, the duelist was able to see the line of beautiful flowers all the way to the darkening northern horizon.

The blue haired woman then made a mental note on picking up some of the said flowers and taking them back to her home in New Hampshire when she gets a chance to do so.

In her mind's eye, adding a few more flowers would not hurt the little greenhouse she had built in the last few years with some help from her husband and a few neighbors.

"Approaching, Hillsboro. I would suggest that we don't take the detour, Mom, " Angela said as she had showed the digital road map on the said town on the bullet proof windshield's heads up display for her mother to study.

"The stretch of Highway 1 bypassing the town is so bad; my active suspensions will need a complete overhaul if we drive through there."

"Alright, dear. I also think that you still have enough juice to make it to the next town anyway," Akane answered as she had takena quick peek at the charge indicator on the dashboard after examining the projected road map.

As the Stiletto was approaching the small town itself, a flat aluminum sign that was surrounded by flashing red lights to car's left had caught Akane's and Angela's attention. On it were the words:

"_**Stop Ahead"**_

Beyond the flashing sign were steel barricades and beyond the barricades were several black and white police cars with its flashing lights.

One of the said patrol cars was a Texas Ranger black and white cruiser. To their right were parked duel cars with their armored owners sitting on the roofs or hoods as they had watched something beyond Akane's sight.

"I don't think it's a trap, mom. Although why the heck are they even blocking the road?" The female AI said as she had fumed at the further delay to their cross country trip as the Stilletto had rolled to a complete stop just in front of the barricade.

"I'll ask them, dear. Don't get your circuits crossed just yet," Akane replied soothingly as she had taken deep breaths to calm her own rising anger.

After picking up her long range Citizen Band radio microphone, the blue haired duelist had asked the policemen in a polite but slightly irritated tone on what the heck was going on.

The answer was as quick as it was short.

"Sorry for the trouble, ma'am but the highway's closed until 7:30 in the evenin'. This is because of the ongoing Hillsboro April Fool Marathon that is held this time every year."

"But today is April second, not-" Akane had exclaimed in her confusion.

"April Fools!" a chorus of drunken voices had responded in the airwaves.

"Real funny fellows we 'ave here, Mom." Angela said through her mom's headset by means of another frequency so as not to be heard by the policemen over the airwaves. "Dad would be pretty much at home with those smashed losers."

"Angela! Your father may act funny when he's drunk but at least he knows all about it," Akane had scolded her daughter both for her sarcastic tone as well as her rude comments about her own "father" as soon as she had released the talk button on the black microphone.

"Oops. Sorry, Mom." the A.I.'s voice had clearly showed its fear. "Just don't tell Dad about it, pretty please with sugar on top. I'll even be a good girl and drive you to the market on Sundays."

"Alright, you're forgiven but don't even try of doing it again especially in front of your little brother. I'll jus' ask the one in charge if we can get exempted from the rules, just this once." The duelist replied as she had opened the door and walked to the assembled police men and Texas Ranger, all of them standing ten feet away from the Stiletto's composite front bumper.

"Can I ask ya kind gentlemen on what the April Fool marathon actually is?" Akane had asked the slightly drunk law enforcers.

"Well Ma'am, it's like this. The marathon is an annual event in this town where we give each of the 100 contestants, of any gender above legal age, a few beer bottles to drink before the five kilometer run itself starts." The brown haired Texas Ranger had told Akane as he slowly set down his green beer bottle on his car's hood where he was currently sitting on. "The winner's still the one who crosses the finish line first."

"Yeah, but those who threw up, urinated, or jus' plain fainted are immediately taken off the race. Thus the winner has ta have a really strong belly for alcohol," added a local policeman before taking a swig at his own brown bottle.

"Lastly, this marathon is actually made on the second day of April thus the inside joke in its name," A third policeman had added quickly before he left his post to fetch a drunken man who had tripped on a rock, his improved armor clanking the whole way.

"Ok then, can I ask fer a favor from you guys?" Akane said in honeyed tone.

"Uh… sure, Ma'am. What can we do fer ya?" The second ranger had asked quietly as he was wary of the other travelers listening in to the conversation from their own cars parked nearby.

"Can you allow me ta pass by and be on my way, even for a few seconds? I'm really late fer a very important meeting in Oklahoma City tomorrow and I still have to make a reservation at a hotel in Dallas for tonight."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. You could stick aroun' here and repair your car if ya like but we can only open the highway on 7:30 PM." The Texas Ranger then replied with a crossed expression. "We don't make the rules here, Ma'am. Only enforce 'em."

"Oh, alright. Thank you for your time," Akane said as she had waved at the kind officers on her way back to her idling car. She knew that being stubborn would only land her in hot water.

"So what's the scoop, Mom? Would they let us pass even fer just a moment?"Angela asked eagerly as her mother had pulled the Stilletto's driver side door upward before entering.

"Nope, they won't even let us pass at all. Let's jus' rest up for a bit," Akane replied as she had powered down the car's systems. She then took as little nap while her daughter had shifted to sleep mode as the ATAD was set to passive surveillance.

-oOo-

More than a hundred miles away to the north of Hillsboro, the security surveillance in the Twoeagle's estate was anything **but** passive.

The silver haired head honcho had ordered that the trike patrols' schedules be increased from one hour to three and that they should patrol a perimeter of five miles from the estate.

The men in the security room were to be put in double shifts to ensure that no one could sneak in through their defenses. The four guard posts that were placed on each of the house's concrete walls' corners were also put in full alert until late the next morning to prevent surprise attacks from the wilderness outside.

Even the heavily armed guards in the luxurious state rooms where President Nonoka and his daughter were kept had also been doubled from four to eight in total.

"I'm too far in my unstoppable plan just to let a bunch of old fogies and two snot nosed brats to trump me yet again," John Twoeagles was telling himself as he had taken a sip of the Le Chambertin burgundy wine that he had bought in his recent trip to Paris, France and stared at the dark sky beyond his office's window. "I'll show 'em. I'll show 'em all that no one puts a good Twoeagles down, **no one**."

"Hm, I may have to visit Paris again this coming weekend." John said to himself as he had noticed the dwindling supply of burgundy bottles in his aluminum wine rack.

A slight knock on the door behind him did a very good job in derailing the renegade oil baron's remaining thoughts. The fuming forty something had turned angrily at the door. "Come in, dammit."

"Sir, we've heard rumors that the Omega Force is stationed somewhere past the barren hills to the east of us." The oil baron's chief of security said as he had closed the rosewood door behind him. "We may have ta strengthen our forces if we 'ave to engage them as well."

"You fool! I've already spent a fortune on providing you and your men the best dueling machines and weapons the Free Oil States have to offer." John said as he abruptly stood up. "And here you are cowering like a sniveling child just because of an unsubstantial rumor?"

"Suh, some of our **own agents **had seen the Road Runner, the Arbalest, the Black Beauty, and the Altron cruising in the highways to the east of here. " The auburn haired man said as he was silently wishing that his boss would listen to his advice that it was the men who could be counted in a battle, not the machines they use. "I would advise extreme caution in dealing with them."

"So what, they're only four customized duel cars and with enough numbers on our side, they will fall on the wayside just like all the others." Twoeagles said as he had enough bad news on the eve of his wedding. "**Get out** and don't come back until you bring me good news for once!"

After the man had left the room, slamming the door in doing so, Twoeagles had twirled his chair until his green eyes had found the stars winkling out as grayish storm clouds had approached from the southeast.

"Hmm, maybe it is best to recall my men since the coming storms would be more than enough to keep those pestering barons and their new allies away until the first stage of my plan is complete." The Oil Baron had mused for a moment before picking up his glass that he had placed on the desk before receiving his underling's report.

With an evil smile on his face, he had continued his star gazing through the night and took another sip of the high quality red French wine.

-oOo-

By 7:15 PM, Angela had woken her mother up and they continued their way thorough the town itself. The car had briefly stopped at a combination AADA center and garage in the town's main thoroughfare for a top up charge and a quick inquiry from its driver about road and bandit conditions.

It was 7:30 PM when the Stiletto had actually left the small town and returned to the highway. None of the stars was seen in the night sky and the normally bright moon was actually smothered by thick gray clouds. Some clouds had even brought some rain with them as they had passed the car by.

As soon as Akane's hand had pushed the power button of the radio to the on position, the opening notes of "**Be Somewhere**" by **Buzy** was blaring through the rear and side speakers. Both mother and daughter had agreed that the song was actually appropriate for their present situation and was quite catchy too.

Most of the bad weather that they had passed though was just little rain showers that only washed the dirt and grime out of the outer armors of the Stiletto and the road's other occupants.

By 7:40 PM or ten minutes after the Reventon had left Hillsboro, it had arrived at the interstate. Almost immediately, the car had arrived at a fork in the road. The aluminum sign (holed in a few places) had showed that Dallas is in the east while Fort Worth is in the west.

"Well, Angel. Where do ya want to pass through?"

"Hmm, tough choice since it would be nice ta visit either of them. Then again, the highway links up north of 'em, anyway."Angela was silent for a few minutes. "Let's go to Dallas, Mom. That place would be more suiting fer a sleek sports car like yours truly."

"Ha ha ha. You're getting ta be like your father everyday, honey." Akane had to let one of her hands let go of the steering wheel just to cover her mouth as she had laughed out loud. "Alright, Dallas it is. Besides, we can get some food and some more equipment there."

The Stiletto had turned right as it chose the eastern fork. Another brief rainstorm had soaked the black car as it was nearing the fortress city ahead.

Passing through a city checkpoint, the car had driven through a green parkland where the old suburbs were being bulldozed to make way for a new city park.

-oOo-

By 8:30 PM, the white city towers of Dallas were clearly visible in the night sky, as they stood out from the city's lichen covered concrete walls. The soaked Lamborghini had joined a line of duel cars that were also entering the city.

The said line had quickly shortened due to the above average efficiency of the Dallas Police - Traffic division.

After entering the city gates, Akane had parked the Stiletto in a nearby charging station. She then ate a quick dinner of home-made chicken curry and iced tea while the car was again given a top up charge.

After finishing her late dinner, the duelist quickly headed for the Uncle Albert's showroom some blocks further in the city before the said establishment would close.

Like the one in Austin and Boston, this particular showroom is huge. When Akane had first entered the showroom, the first thing that had greeted her was the various duel cars on display.

Further in were the various departments where the ammunition, car weapons, hand weapons, and gadgets are seen and bought. All of which were professionally displayed for the customers to buy.

The duelist had walked past all of them as she was looking for a certain section near the left end of the store – the body armor section.

Akane had bought a set of improved body armor just in case she would need a spare armor as well as some extra ammunition for the Stiletto's weapons and some more extra ammunition for her hand guns.

When the blue haired duelist had finished buying the needed items, she then exited the store (the said items were placed in a shopping cart) before heading for the AADA center in the center.

The digits on the car's on-board dashboard clock were showing 9:30 PM as the black Reventòn had neared the said center. The AADA center itself has occupied the whole floor of a downtown high rise building.

Since it was already closed for the night, Akane had to go to its 24/7 drive through window. The black Reventón then rolled up to the said window and the duelist had asked for road and bandit conditions on the route ahead as she had handed her Autobank card.

The twenty-something operator had nodded as she made a few keystrokes on her console and took the payment for her services when she had slashed the card on its specially made reader. She then gave the duelist the following print out:

"_Very severe winds and thunderstorms along planned route for the next two hundred miles. There were reports of cycle gang activity to the north and east of Dallas, just slightly off the said route. The Red River has overflowed and there were reports of flood in its banks. Both Texas One and Sherman-Dennison bridges are closed as of thirty minutes ago." _

As the black car was returning to the streets, Akane had let out a dissatisfied groan as she read the print out's contents while Angela took the wheel.

"What's the matter, mom?" The A.I. asked as she noted the seldom heard groan from her parent.

"It seems that the bridges ta the north were closed due to flooding," Akane answered before turning to the classy motel to their left. "I guess I'll take that nap now."

"But, mom. It's still a quarter to ten."

"Time enough fer me to rest and recharge my batteries. We'll leave at two-thirty in the mornin', dear."

Akane did not tell Angela that she was also worried about the Security Six and its three passengers. She had hoped that they would have passed the overflowed river or at least stayed at a local hotel nearby.

The Omega Force second in command had shaken such thoughts away as she parked the Reventón in the only open garage below her rented room.

-oOo-

At a luxurious royal suite situated in the fifth floor of a five star hotel in New Tulsa, Oklahoma, an orange haired woman was watching the late night news on TV with dismay.

Like her superior who was checking in the motel in Dallas, Karin Karakuchi was also worried about Takuya and the others in the Security Six who were supposed to be in Texas One interstate nearest the bridges if they did not hurry up.

She had tried to act unconcerned but her fidgeting in her sofa seat had already alerted the other three occupants of the said suite to her distress.

"What's the matter, Karin?" a soft voice from her right had said in worry.

"Oh, it's actually nothing, Arika. I'm just a little worried about Takuya and the others since they were scheduled to leave Dallas a good three hours before Miss Akane did."

"So you're worried that they might be swept away by the flooding of the Red River, am I right?" The brown haired sportswriter and wife of Ikki Tenryou had surmised with a blink of her brown eyelashes.

"Yes, I wish that General Tendou had not ordered us to maintain radio silence until Miss Nonoka is already with us." The orange haired housewife and guest of the Twoeagle's wedding party said without thinking.

"Karin dear, we had to do it so that Twoeagles would not eavesdrop on us along the way." Koji Karakuchi said as he had poured some brandy in a wine glass before offering it to his wife and sitting at her left side. "Believe me, I'm worried for the three of them too y'know."

"So do I, but we'll also have to believe that they're alright and they may even have passed the bridge before the river even overflowed." Ikki had also added his two cents to the conversation as he sat beside his wife, a half-filled wine glass held in his left hand.

"Alright, let's go to sleep since we have to prepare for the last leg of our journey right, guys?" Karin said as she had wiped away her tears with her right hand.

Her husband had even offered his handkerchief for her to use instead. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we could return to our children."

"Yup," Ikki said with a hint of a relieved smile as he had scooted his wife to their own room across the hall. "Good night, you guys. See ya in the mornin'."

-oOo-

By two in the morning the following day, Akane was awakened by her daughter through her wrist communication link. She had made a quick break to the bathroom to freshen up.

After buying a BLT sandwich and a cup of coffee in one of the motel's two vending machines, Akane immediately headed for her waiting car, paying her bill along the way.

Twenty minutes later, the Stiletto was already on its way to the city gates. Angela had again taken over the driving chores temporarily so that her mother could have her early morning snack.

Even in the wee hours in the morning, the weather was still too dark and blustery. Akane had to rely on the car's digital instruments and her daughter's directions in front of her to keep her from hitting any road hazards in the highway (Texas One West).

The Stiletto's LID headlights were of little use at this point thus they were turned off while Angela had used infrared and Doppler radar to provide the needed driving information.

While the car was cresting a low and muddy hill, five separate headlights had come to life on both sides of the road ahead, nearly blinding the duelist if not for the car's polarizing windshield being activated by her quick thinking daughter.

"Mom, some nut job's telling us to stop and surrender." Angela pointed out as she had received a rude transmission from one of the cycles around them. "Are we going ta kick their butts instead?"

"Yes, Angel. Ready all yer weapons since we're gonna bust through their flimsy trap," Akane replied with a sinister grin as she had switched the heads up display to combat mode.

"You got it, Mom." Angela replied as she had again activated all her weaponry while the Reventon had neared the gap between the bikers, just ten meters away.

They had gotten through the gap while taking some damage from the bikes' machine guns as the Reventòn exchanged fire with them thorough its own machine guns.

In retaliation, Akane had let loose the two heavy rockets from their respective places in the car's rear when the Reventón passed by the gap between the ambushing bikers. The armor piercing 50mm diameter projectiles had taken out three of the bikers and their soaked two wheeled machines including their self styled leader.

The remaining two bikers then began chasing the car in their anger. Both had scored some hits on the car's rear armor as well as the titanium pylons as the protective hatches were being recalled.

Other high density bullets had made short work of the car's rear lights as the protective hatch of the rear weapons had latched into place.

This time, Angela had made two quick shots at the pursuing bikers with the Gauss gun, hitting them where it really hurts – right at the cycles' power plants.

Two bright explosions had briefly lit up the barren and wet landscape along with the speeding black car before the latter had disappeared in the darkness beyond.

-oOo-

After the Stiletto had passed by a small town named Sanger, yet another vehicle was picked up by the Stiletto's radar. This car, if you could actually call it that, was armed with three 50mm heavy rockets at its hood and two machine guns at its rusted sides.

The said vehicle's make could not be ascertained since it was made up of different parts from different duel cars and even some pick-ups.

"Mom, we've got one junk heap bangin' on our tail." Angela reported as the first heavy rocket had fallen a bit short of the Reventón's composite rear bumper, making a small geyser of asphalt, dirt, and water that nearly splashed the chasing car.

The enemy car had closed the distance between itself and the Stiletto even further to compensate for his earlier miscalculation.

Akane then armed the Gauss gun and shot the nearing car's headlights and front grille in an effort to knock out the remaining heavy rockets placed in between the busted head lamps. Still, it was just too late as the second heavy rocket was launched and hit home. The Lamborghini was actually pushed forward by the force of the direct hit.

Fortunately for them, the rear part of the car was heavily armored behind the taillights thus their power plant was saved from harm.

Moreover, metallic and plastic jagged pieces had separated from the lead car's chassis and fell into the waiting cold and damp asphalt.

Angela had taken over the firing of the car's main gun as it had zeroed in on the now exposed power plant of its target.

A single soundless burst of supersonic needles was enough to fully penetrate the power plant and triggered an explosion that destroyed the out of control junk heap completely.

Once again, its explosion had briefly illuminated the damp and glistening road and the other car before the latter disappeared completely.

-oOo-

Olympia, Washington – Tuesday, April 2, 2044, 2:30 AM

A five (nearly six) year old boy with brown hair had lain on a bed, his gray eyes were still wide open. He had tried to catch the Sand Man's precious magical item but something had prevented him from doing so.

He was looking at his temporary room's ceiling and walls, both them barely visible in their light blue paint.

Beside his bed was a small drawer where he had temporarily kept his little Aescopolis Matchbox duel car. His dad had given it to him as a gift on his last birthday.

When the boy had asked his glasses wearing father about it, the older man had only replied that it was given to him as a sort of reminder of his old duel car when he and his mom were still new to Mithril.

The room's white oak door was slowly opened letting in some light from the hallway. The five foot six inch silhouette that came along with the light had spoken in low tones yet it was enough for the child to hear it perfectly.

"Syaoran, are you ok?" The silhouette said as it had neared the startled child.

The said figure had disappeared in the darkness when the maple door was closed shut but after a click and a sudden flood of light from the overhead fluorescent lamp, the figure turned out to be the boy's harried aunt – Hiromi Kinomiya-Tachibana.

"I'm sorry, Auntie Hiromi but I'm really worried about Mom and Dad." Syaoran Kazama said as he sat up in his bed.

"You're not the only one, kiddo. Your Uncle Takao and I are worried 'bout them too."

"Really, Auntie?" The child said in surprise. "But Uncle Takao looked like he wasn't even worried all day."

"Believe me, I know." The twenty nine year old brown haired housewife and mother of one replied with a small grin. "It's obvious when you've lived with him for a good eight years or so. More than that, Makoto is worried about them too. He's just trying to keep you occupied at the moment. "

"Alright, I'll have to believe you on that one." Syaoran said followed by a yawn. "Good night, Auntie."

As soon as Hiromi saw that her nephew's gray eyes were slowly closing, she had pulled up the green bed covers and brushed away the stray dark brown curls that were splayed on the boy's pale forehead before kissing it and saying

"Sweet dreams, kiddo."

She then turned off the light and quietly left the room.

-oOo-

Texas One Intersection – Tuesday, same date, 2:50 AM

The two parts of Texas One has rejoined in the sleepy town of Denton. Outside, the rain had worsened and there were some sheet lightnings spotted in the northern horizon.

The sleek black car slowly went over a concrete bridge as they had entered town, the muddy creek below them was swollen and turbulent with storm reinforced water.

As the said vehicle had returned to the highway, the storm just got even worse. Lighting had flashed around the car and one time, the Stiletto was nearly blown off the road by a passing crosswind. Then the dark and cloudy sky suddenly looked as if it was filled with weird, glowing lights.

Ahead of them, a barely visible whitish gray cloud had lengthened as it dipped toward the earth.

"Mom, it's a damn tornado. Let's find a place to hide for a while before we get sucked in," Angela said in panic as she had recognized the violent weather phenomenon that was happening right there in front of them.

Akane then herded the wet Reventòn on the turnoff to their left as quickly as she could.

The howling of the nearing tornado had competed with the A.I.s voice on the duelist's ears as Angela had led her mother to a nearby underpass where the Reventon would weather the coming storm.

Even the drumming of the rain on the car's roof was making its own noise to compete with the other two sounds. Rainy days would never the same again for this mother-daughter tandem.

The shelter of the concrete underpass that Angela had found along the way had offered little comfort since random eddies of wind still rocked the car as both driver and A.I. had braced themselves for the coming natural disaster. Some random object were also thrown in by the nearing twister to the hiding vehicle.

After what seemed to Akane and Angela to be an eternity, the howling of the winds and the patter of small objects thrown in was followed by silence, pure silence.

With a contented release of breath, Akane had slowly reversed the car out of the battered underpass and returned to the route north.

To save time, the car had passed all the debris littering the road at a flat sixty miles per hour with Akane doing most of the driving and Angela helping along whenever she could.

As soon as they had cleared the debris, the AI had turned on the radio. The debris that they left behind were mostly consisted of uprooted trees, fences, mail boxes and even battered vehicles that were tossed around by the howling 150 miles per hour winds.

It was around that time when they had learned that storms were still raging across northern Texas and most of Oklahoma from what they could gather from the hourly reports that Angela had scanned in the AM band of her Pioneer digital car radio.

The duelist had started to worry about her husband and the other team members in the Omega Force who were either inside the Twoeagles Ranch or within striking distance of it at that very moment.

At the very least, Ryu was in Dallas along with the other children. All of them were with her parents and Mrs. fon Fabre. Only Syaoran was left in Olympia along with his relatives as well as Nanami in Atlanta with her parents.

Adding to her problems was that Akane could not call them yet on the long range radio since they were still too far away to be of sufficient signal range and that they were also told to maintain radio silence until they had successfully rescued the hostages.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm sure they'll be alright. No storms gonna get 'em out of whack since they're damn tough jus' like us,"The A.I. quipped as it had correctly guessed her mother's thoughts.

"Thanks, hon-whoa."

Akane had to step on the brakes so that the Stiletto would not hit the rear bumper of the semi-trailer with a red and white horizontal cylindrical tank trailer lying on its right side as the Stiletto had rounded out a tight curve.

Angry at the sudden appearance of the possible wreck, the duelist had stepped out of her car. The A.I. had stopped herself from saying anything more or risk being reprimanded, that in itself was a wise move on her part.

Akane had studied the overturned trailer as she power walked to the tank truck's tractor. She also shook away the rainwater dripping from her shoulder length dark blue hair as she stepped closer to the upturned vehicle.

The truck's trailer part had separated from the tractor since the latter part was still upright and was parked three meters away, although the tractor's hazard lights were now flashing periodically.

As she neared the idling tractor, Akane had realized that the slightly blurred red and white two headed eagle insignia on its cab's moist driver side door was that of the Twoeagle's oil empire.

A heavy set man with improved body armor had hopped out of the cab with a small splash as his large feet hit the puddle underneath him, surprising the damp female duelist out of her thoughts.

Thankfully, she was too far away to be further drenched by man's sudden inconsiderate landing on the large puddle beneath his booted feet.

The same insignia as that on the door was also painted on the armor's chest area where some droplets of water that were flowing downward did not blur the image as much as those on the said door.

"Hey, baby. Wanna have some fun?" The man said as he had looked down at the helmet-less duelist appreciatively.

The large man had even made a show of drawing his black comb and brushing away some water off his brown hair as he neared the surprised woman.

"Say goodnight, pervert." Akane said as she had readied her weapon of choice behind her back while smiling up sweetly at the six foot seven lecher.

"Goodnight, pervert."

The man was instantly knocked out by the mystical hammer that had collided with his soaked bare head.

He then fell face first to the slightly flooded asphalt below with a loud thump and an even bigger splash that nearly drenched the auto duelist if she had not jumped away in time.

Akane had rolled the big palooka with an audible grunt so that he would lie on the asphalt with his leather covered toes up.

She then took the bearded man's laminated ID clipped to his black jeans' back pocket along with a large wad of cash from his brown leather wallet.

The said item was gotten through an opening in his body armor and his Colt .45 pistol straight from his waist holster.

Akane had also found some Heineken beer cans inside the cab that she poured liberally all over the driver's unconscious face and upper body before throwing the emptied beer cans back in the empty cab.

"Serves ya right," The duelist said haughtily as she had returned to her own vehicle, still ignoring the rain coming down on her.

As she was entering the car, Angela had asked her mother if she would scavenge the truck's various weapons to make it look like the perverted trucker was really robbed.

"Nah, we don't have time fer it. Besides, someone else will do it fer us anyway." The duelist replied as she had started the power plant and overtook the crippled semi-trailer truck as well as its knocked out driver.

The rain had by then settled down to a steady torrent as the Stiletto approached the Texas-Oklahoma border, half an hour later (3:50 AM).

-oOo-

The black car had pulled unto the slightly muddy bridge as it crossed the swollen and raging river. The murky river's surface had turned chocolate brown due to the enormous amount of mud (and some other things like tree branches and stones) that it had carried downstream.

Halfway across the concrete bridge, a painted (now fading) red line went across it from one side to the other. A big sign is also posted above the line's right end. On it, it was written:

"**NOW ENTERING REPUBLIC OF OKLAHOMA"**

As it had crossed the other side, the Stiletto was waved over by a policeman holding a white flag across to a small compound.

A newly panted sign above the steel gate says:

"**OKLAHOMA CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION"**

A purple haired trooper in green military grade body armor had asked the mother and daughter tandem to stop as soon as they entered the gate. He had also asked politely if Akane would disembark and open all the car doors as well as the front trunk.

While the trooper was looking through every conceivable hiding place for contraband, Akane was taking a look around.

She had noticed that there were a number of similarly armored men and women also doing the same thing as the trooper beside her.

All of them were either glaring at each other or at those whom they have some problems with.

Lightning flashes in the background even helped her visualize some of the silent animosity between the inspectors.

Each inspector was actually differentiated by the colors and insignias on their armor's chest plate or arm plates, Akane later realized.

The duelist had surreptitiously and carefully took out a twenty dollar bill out of her brown purse and casually asked the purple haired trooper what was going on while giving him the paper bill out of everyone's view.

The surprised then pleased trooper had pocketed the soaked bill before mouthing a simple "Thank you."

"I'm not sure, ma'am." he answered quietly amidst the sound of splattering rain on the car's roof.

"A lot of the superior officers from the oil companies' private armies are hanging around here though." The trooper added. "You didn't hear this from me but I think there's a bit of political hassle goin' round. It's probably related to the hush-hush visit of the President Nonoka of Louisiana up north."

As soon as the trooper had finished his cursory inspection, he had waved the duelist off. Some of the inspectors had wanted to hold the Stiletto for some reason or another but were themselves stopped by other inspectors.

This almost led to a fistfight between two specific hot headed male inspectors if cooler heads had not prevailed over the whole situation.

The Stiletto had pulled out of the compound and continued its journey north. Thanks to the still raging storm, the only viable route for it now was through Oklahoma City and New Tulsa.

Even then, the rain still was not stopping but only falling in smaller raindrops.

* * *

The last two chapters are up next, so expect some serious explosions and fist fights in the next chapter when the wedding party is definitely going to be crashed in style.

The "say goodnight" joke was borrowed from Rowan and Martin's Laugh In that was shown in the US around the late sixties and early seventeens. I did have the pleasure of watching their re runs though in the early eighties thus the joke here.

See ya next chapter.


	4. A Rip Roarin' Rescue

Alright, its show time for the Omega Force in this fourth chapter of the same title.

This is where all the preparations that were stated in the last three chapters would bear fruit. Now it is the time for the critical phase for the battle plan for Raid.

Sorry, I must have been watching too many "Battle Nights" in History Channel to even type that lame Battle Plan joke.

Anyway, I will also add yet another cameo from Ranma one half in this chapter but he is the last one from that anime along with two others.

Just read and enjoy everyone.

* * *

Chapter 3 – **A Rip-Roaring Rescue**

Interstate 35 – April 2, 2044, 4:00 AM - Tuesday

Even if the Stiletto was traveling on the same highway as before, the road has retained its old name of Interstate 35 as the black Lamborgini had crossed the border to the Republic of Oklahoma. At one point, the newly built patch of the road has detoured around a heavily guarded concrete wall.

The concrete wall itself was crowned with electrified barbed wire, the said wire's length running across the wall's top. Rising above the said vine covered wall was the spire of a brightly lit oil derrick.

While Akane was driving, Angela was scanning the local stations on the AM band on the Pioneer digital radio. She had caught something of interest in an all-news station and gently increased the volume so that her mother could also hear it.

"_Today is the wedding day for Oil Baron John Twoeagles and Sayuri Nonoka, daughter of President Sanosuke Nonoka of the Republic of Louisiana," _one of the youngish broadcasters had said through the car's four speakers. _"The announcement of the wedding was a surprise to most – but not apparently to President Sanosuke Nonoka who is now at the Twoeagles ranch just for the festivities." _

_An outdoor wedding was planned but it may have to be moved indoors due to the crazy weather we're having. And speaking of the weather, what does Mother Nature have in store for us, Kira?_" the smooth voice added before turning to his co-host._  
_

"_Nothin' good, Athrun. We're currently experiencing the worst storm surge Oklahoma has ever seen since the original land rush." _was the given reply by the other radio host.

The second radio voice had added quickly_. "Widely scattered thunderstorms are pounding the entire nation including the northern half of Texas. Hail has been widely reported, we even have a recent update about hailstones the size of baseballs in Broken Arrow. Tornadoes have been reported all across the country, there was even a twister touchdown east of Enid with three lives lost."_

The voices from the radio then dissolved in static as sheet lightning had flashed in the northern horizon. The brief flash of light had showed Akane and her AI daughter that another thunderstorm was approaching the Stiletto from the west and slightly to the north.

Angela had wisely turned down the volume as she again scanned the AM band for more informative newscasts. Sometime later, the Stiletto had passed a shell-pocked sign saying:

"**Now Leaving Love County" **

After a short ride through high winds and rain, the Stiletto had come upon the town of Ardmore. The fairly large town was zipped up tight, partly due to the time of day (4:30 AM) and partly due to the still raging storm. The sleek Reventón thus had breezed thorough the town easily.

Five minutes after the Lamborghini had exited the city, it came upon a pattern of stubborn red flares spread out in a line along damp the highway. The flares had illuminated a stranded 18-wheeler Peterbilt semi-trailer truck. Akane slowly brought the car to a stop, right at the trailer's rear bumper.

As before, she walked to the soaked red cab cautiously after assuring her A.I. daughter that she would be alright. She did not draw her side arm just yet, confident in her own ability that she could knock out the agressor before he could even draw their own weapons.

As Akane was about to climb the running board to open the cab's bullet ridden door, the said door with the words "Member of the Brotherhood of Truckers" stenciled on it, suddenly creaked open.

She jumped back and had gotten into a tight fighting stance as soon as her damp blue boots had made contact with the wet asphalt.

A big shadowy figure in black body armor had slowly lumbered out of the cab and faced the duelist with his large gloved hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, lady. I'm neither armed nor am I in any shape ta fight. Please, let's jus' talk."

Akane had relaxed her stance and asked the large man his name.

"Name's Mark Donahue and I jus' came from Harlingen with a load of grapefruit," the man explained as he held his green gloved hand out for a hand shake.

"I'm Akane Saotome, a professional duelist. So what's the problem here?" Akane asked as she shook hands with the six foot six trucker.

"Ah, so you're the better half of the Saotome tag-team duelin' pair. Am I right, Miz Akane?" Mark surmised as he rubbed his blond beard with his right forefinger and thumb. "Oh yeah, my rig's power plant went on a fritz and I can't make heads or tails about it."

"Yes, I am. Let me try fixing yer power plant so you can still keep your schedule," Akane said as Mark raised one of the cab's hoods. She leaned inside the opened hood for a few minutes with her pocket light (that she kept on her back pocket) on before finding the burnt wire near the flywheel.

After wrapping a good length of black electrical tape on it, she asked the trucker to start the engine. The truck's massive Thunder Cat power plant had purred like a contented kitten after a brief grinding start.

"Mighty thanks, Miz Akane. Yer husband sure iz a lucky man fer marryin' ya," Mark quipped as he gave the duelist his worn orange Kraft paper calling card over the opened window.

"Actually, I'm the lucky one since he taught that specific trick ta me way back when we were still teens." Akane retorted as she had hopped down to the asphalt and watched the red Peterbilt truck slowly roar away.

-oOo-

Interstate 35 – 4:45 AM, Tuesday

The Stiletto had prodded on its way thorough the scattered thunderstorms. Angela had suggested that they could push it to seventy miles per hour since they only have a little more than eight hours to get to the wedding on time.

Akane had agreed and gave more weight to the accelerator pedal, the digits in the speedometer's little display gradually increased. The resulting G-forces from the resulting acceleration had pushed the duelist further back to her leather seat.

-oOo-

Somewhere in the Oklahoman Panhandle – 5:45 AM, same day

Ranma had woken up early from the white cot that he had laid in the concrete floor the night before. The room was large enough for most of the Omega Force that were with him to sleep comfortably in their respective futons.

This had even included the forty more men and women who would man the tanks and armored vehicles that would surround the entire Twoeagles estate later in the morning. The rest of the hastily assembled forces were similarly housed in other similarly constructed buildings nearby.

That is, if the weather had calmed down enough to actually let them get to their battle positions. Thanks to the storms that had passed them by, the reddish brown ground was awfully muddy and would only be fit for travel by tracked vehicles like tanks or half-tracks.

Even then, it would be slow going until the rain has let up just enough for the plants to suck up enough water for the soil to be sturdy enough for the other vehicles to pass over. He stood up, rolled up his cot before starting his morning ablutions.

The whole time he had ignored the pitter-patter of raindrops on both the roof and the perm flex windows.

"Commander?"

A surprised pony tailed leader of the Omega Force had looked behind him to see Sousuke holding a toothbrush in his left hand.

Looking at his newly alerted brown eyes alone, Ranma had already surmised that the younger man had just woken up himself.

"Sousuke, what're the chances of us succeedin' in our mission even with the weather as it is right now?" The older man asked as he brushed his teeth.

"Sir, we can get about 45 percent of our forces in position so the chances are a little slim." The young man with unruly black hair replied after a moment as he had watched his superior finish brushing his teeth. "Unless the weather changes in the next six hours that is the best we can have."

"Alright, you can brush yer teeth now." Ranma said with finality as he had picked up all of his toiletries and left the bathroom, leaving a puzzled mercenary behind.

-oOo-

Within two hours (6:45 AM), the Stiletto had reached Oklahoma City's outskirts. The Reventón had pulled up for a needed fifteen minute charge while the duelist ate a quick breakfast at the newly opened truck stop before hitting the road again.

Akane had also tried to contact one of Yuka's allies in the said city via a public payphone but only found a busy signal instead.

'I do hope that he's alright,' the duelist had thought as she entered her car and left the city.

Angela had whined that they should have taken the time for some needed repairs but Akane was adamant since they could get the same thing at New Tulsa, just a few traveling hours away.

In the end, the A.I. had agreed since they would get there faster by means of the newly built Turner turnpike.

The turnpike itself was deserted thanks to the thunderstorms that were still raging throughout Oklahoma.

Again, Akane had to rely on the digital display of the instruments before her as well as Angela's spoken advice as road visibility was again nearing zero percent.

The thunderstorms had continued to lash out at the desolate wasteland before them. The once hard and dry topsoil was turned to soft mud.

Even the morning sun was refused entry therefore it was still quite dark outside the car's twin headlights high intensity beams besides being wet and blustery.

"Mom, if we work together, we can speed up ta ninety miles per hour and still be safe." Angela suggested as she had already analyzed her wheels' handling along with the wind and rain factors.

"Alright, dear and when we arrive at New Tulsa, I'll have ya not only fully repaired but even sport a brand new paint job complete with buffing." Akane replied as she had gripped the steering wheel tighter and pushed the accelerator pedal further down towards the floorboards.

"Now you're talkin', Mom." The A.I had noted the gradual increase in speed and did her own job of manipulating the traction control.

-oOo-

The Stiletto had arrived in New Tulsa by 9:15 AM. The city itself was completely rebuilt after the Oil Wars. Its shining new towers were much better looking in sharp contrast to the other cities Akane has visited before where most of their buildings were old and ruined.

After the brief inspection at the city gates, the duelist had pulled up at a nearby phone booth.

After a few rings, a youngish male voice had answered the phone. "AADA New Tulsa branch, Hiroshi Yamamoto speaking."

"Uh, hi. I'm Akane Saotome, and I was given this number by the supervisor of the Austin branch. So wh-" Akane had started to say.

"Say no more, ma'am. Please follow the following directions to our field office and we will give you any assistance in your mission as soon as you arrive."

"Thank you, Mr. Yamamoto."

"The pleasure's all mine, Mrs. Saotome. Besides, it's basically our own revenge against that mother fucking dick wad for what he did to us two years ago. By the way, here are the directions…"

-oOo-

While Akane was on her way to the AADA building in New Tulsa, President Sanosuke Nonoka was already on his way to his daughter's room where the latter was being prepared for her wedding.

He was already outfitted in his favorite three piece suit and black leather shoes.

After his frail and wrinkled knuckles had met the door twice, it was opened by a nervous maid who thought it was the future groom. It was no secret that even the maids were afraid of Twoeagles since he always insisted on getting his way.

Anyone who did not agree to his whims were either fired or taken to a one way trip to the countryside before disappearing altogether.

The old politician had stepped into the spacious room to find his daughter, who was still in her sleepwear and also barefoot, sitting on the queen sized bed and splotching her make up with fresh tears while two other maids tried to console her.

Sayuri's specifically designed wedding dress and body armor was still lying on the queen sized bed, not a rumple was found on it.

"Are you sure about this, dear?" He said as soon as the door was closed and locked.

Thankfully, the guards posted outside the door were sent somewhere else so he could speak freely without someone suddenly grabbing him from behind and be tortured later.

"Yes, Father." Sayuri had meekly replied, her shoulder length brown hair already tied in a neat bun. Her hands was still clutching the purple pajama bottoms in her anxiety.

"Sayuri dear, have faith in your friend- Yuka. I'm sure she has sent the e-mail that I told you about so help's already on the way," The elder Nonoka said as he sat down on the bed as his legs had ached from standing too long.

"But Father, even if she did send the message. The storms would delay whatever rescue attempt our allies will try to save us. If not, they would have to face all of Twoeagle's forces in battle."

"Don't **ever** underestimate the Omega Force, child." Sanosuke said in admonishing his only daughter. "I'm sure they'll find a way and you can quote me on that."

"Your Excellency, are they really on their way here right now?" The young maid who was sitting on Sayuri's right side had spoken up upon hearing the famous group's name.

"Yes, and I'm pretty sure that John had also known about it." The president of Louisiana said with a sneer. "It'll be quite a show when they do arrive though since whatever advantage Twoeagle's henchmen may have in numbers and equipment would be squandered by their lack in skill. And that my dear, is what the Omega Force has plenty in supply."

"Father…" Sayuri was about to say something but kept herself quiet. The president had briefly looked at his Seiko watch with leather straps on his left wrist before standing up.

"Don't worry, dear. We'll be out of the woods before you know it," Sanosuke said as he had kissed his daughter's right cheek and headed out the door.

As soon as he left the room, Sanosuke thought bitterly. 'Ah, Sayuri does have a point but I have to keep on believing in them or all is truly lost.'

-oOo-

Fifteen minutes later or 9:30 AM, Akane was parking the damp Stiletto in an underground garage right under the AADA building in the middle of town.

She was also given a two-page print out of the road and bandit reports as well as an even more detailed map of the Twoeagles Ranch as she was escorted to the offices above. The said map was even marked with a red marker for possible escape routes.

In addition, there were some written notes on the type of defensive structures used and where the red and white security trikes were usually parked. Akane was impressed with how the AADA had treated this mission.

Now sitting on a leather seat in the posh office of New Tulsa branch manager - Hiroshi Yamamoto, she asked how long will the Stiletto would be fixed.

"Well, our team of mechanics is already on the job. Plus they have some impressive equipment brought in including four maintenance robots, two of which are MTB and the rest - BRS series." Hiroshi said as he had taken a sip of lemonade from the chilled tall glass in front of him before continuing. "So it would be finished in about forty five minutes, complete with a new paint job, a top up recharge, and some buffing."

"Ah, that's nice. But you told me earlier that this is your 'revenge'. Can ya explain further on that?" Akane asked as she had sipped on the glass of pink lemonade offered to her by the kind secretary.

"Oh that. Actually, it's like this. My grandfather was one of the original Oklahoma oil barons. He and my dad had a bit of a falling out, decades ago. So Dad ran away to Louisiana and met my mom there," Hiroshi then stopped talking for a moment to catch his breath. "Long story short, Grandpa was lying on his death bed about six years ago and left me in charge of his business. But I politely refused since I had just graduated from college back then. Right now, Dad is in charge of the company until I can finally take over."

"Alright, but what has that got to do with Twoeagles?" The duelist has just put down her glass on the desk.

"The Twoeagles family and mine were long term rivals," The young executive said with a grimace." Johnny is actually pissed that a 'Louie boy' , that's me by the way, would become one of the oil barons here in Oklahoma and had made some trouble in this branch whenever he can." The light brunet branch manager said with a sneer.

"Two years ago, he had one of my hard working employees jailed for 'smuggling' gasoline across the border to Louisiana. The case would have been headline news if not from some legal help from HQ. This time, it's our turn to take him down." Hiroshi said befroe sipping some more juice.

"I see, so your father is one of our clients. Am I correct?" Akane said as she had processed all the information in her mind.

"Yep, his two tank companies are now headed by Lieutenant Sousuke Sagara and his wife, Technical Sergeant. Kaname Sagara - Chidori of Mithril. They were to be stationed at the hills northwest of the ranch to take out the security forces placed there by ol' Johnny himself." The twenty eight year old light brunette was about to add more when the desk phone had rung.

"Hiroshi here. What's that? You got the secret high level security password. Thanks, man and yes, I'll tell her." The light brown haired branch manager had replaced the phone's receiver on its hinges and smiled widely. "Almost forgot, we also sent other copies of the map that just we gave you to the other members of the Omega Force who had passed by here. My father had handed the rest to your husband and his team."

"As for the caller earlier, that was Hikaru Gosunkugi, the pale faced hacker you've met along the way here. He says you're hot," Hiroshi said, still grinning like an idiot.

"Wait, how did he recognize me?" The duelist asked with a blush and a bit of revulsion.

"Simple, he's your biggest fan. And no, he won't ask you out, but rather jus' ask for an autograph." Hiroshi replied with a grin. "He also said the Twoeagle Oil password for 'special guests' today is seven. It's so that those lunk heads in the Twoeagles Ranch's security force could actually remember it correctly."

"Ok, can I borrow your pen and a note pad?" Akane asked, still giggling at Hiroshi's crack at the Twoeagle's security force's collective intelligence or rather, the lack of it.

"Sure, Mrs. Saotome. We even provided ya with some personal equipment in case somethin' goes terribly wrong. It's in the next room," Hiroshi answered as he had taken yet another sip of his juice.

"Please, call me Akane. Yuka Tsukihime is actually a friend of mine back in high school and she's my political coordinator so to speak. May I call you Hiroshi?" Akane said in a calming had just written her autograph on the leaf of the note pad and tore it off gently.

Akane then placed all the items neatly on the table after using them.

"Uhh, sure. M-Akane. I think the repairs would be finished soon and I still have ta show you all of the extra equipment we'll be giving you," The branch manager had managed to answer as if something had distracted him for the briefest of moments.

He also fumbled with the returned pen as he replaced it in its wooden holder.

After finishing the served beverages, the branch manager had led the duelist to an empty office room.

On the oak table top were the following items: one set of improved body armor, six fragmentation grenades, six smoke grenades, two limpet mines, and a Glock 18 machine pistol with a spare magazine full of 9mm Parabellum rounds.

"Thank you, Hiroshi. I guess it's time for me ta go and rescue the poor girl," Akane quipped as she had carried the items in her leather backpack.

"Actually, Sayuri's not as weak as everyone thinks she is." Hiroshi retorted as he had led the duelist back to her car.

"How would you know?" Akane had turned around in surprise just as they had reached the elevator leading back to the underground garage as she was saying this.

"She once visited this office with her old man, that's how."

-oOo-

By ten-thirty AM, the Stiletto was back in the soaked and slippery streets of New Tulsa. The weather had cleared up but only just a bit while the car left the city's northern exit.

As the black Reventón was cruising along US 75 on its way to the fortress town of Bartlesville, it had met a familiar red Peterbilt truck and its gray refrigerated trailer.

The truck had honked its own greetings as its burly driver had also recognized the sleek sports car.

"Howdy, Miz Akane. How's about convoying with me? I'll take the front door since this stretch of hell isn't a good place for ya and yer car," Mark asked on the radio.

"Sure, Mark. Let me slow down a bit," Akane replied as she had downshifted and let the big rig pass her by before moving the Reventón to position about a car's length behind the truck.

An hour has passed with no problems whatsoever, even the sky was slowly clearing up to let some sunshine in.

There were two purple trikes waiting at both sides of the highway halfway to Bartlesville but their drivers had second thoughts about ambushing an eighteen wheeler reefer trailer truck with an 50mm anti-tank gun on its gleaming turret.

-oOo-

While Akane was talking to Mark Donahue on the highways, the slightly damp Security Six had also arrived in the Twoeagle's estate.

As the two armored men had carried the three layered and tiered wedding cake, Izumi had excused herself from the others and looked for a perfect place to place her limpet mine that she had hidden in the deepest bowels of her brown handbag.

An idea had come to her when she felt the urge to empty her bladder. She had asked around for the nearest restroom.

"I'm sorry, Miss but the only restroom here that's still unoccupied is the one in the garage." One of the newer and kinder guards had told her after pointing at the large building that looks more like an airplane hanger than a garage.

"Oh, can I enter the garage then?" Izumi said. "I really have to go."

The guard at the door had tried to keep her out but with a bit of pouting and some name dropping, the blonde duelist was able to enter the building. Inside, it was cool and well shaded from the now emerging sun.

After exiting the girl's rest room, Izumi had studied the garage's layout as she slowly headed out the door only to find a perfect spot just as she was about to leave.

She then sneaked a limpet mine in one of the big drums of solvent at the far side of the garage; the various vehicles parked there had covered her movements perfectly.

After placing the mine, she had returned to the Security Six while acting as if nothing had happened.

-oOo-

After they had returned to the van, Takuya and Junpei went their separate ways to plant six more limpet mines. Takuya had doubled back towards the main gate while Junpei headed for the security office.

The six foot four medium built duelist had entered the small brick building some distance from the pavilion where the wedding was supposed to be held.

Behind it is a chain link fence where three gleaming security tricycles painted in red and white were parked.

As soon as the duelist had entered, the young man in red and white body armor had looked up to him.

"Is this the office of…" Junpei had started to say but then looked briefly at the white voucher in his hand. "Captain Michaels?"

The guard lazily answered. "Yeah, so what's it to ya?"

"Well then, my boss couldn't come here but told me somethin' about a password since I was told to come by in his place." The orange haired member of the Omega Force said with confidence. "Mind if I use the phone? By the way, is the line here even secure?"

"Of course," The guard replied as he went back to his comic book. "Be my guest."

"Since this call's a little hush-hush, how's about leav'n me here for a minute or so?"

"Alright, but only fer a minute." The lanky guard had stood up and left the room with his comic book, slightly puzzled at the given request.

Junpei had quickly exited the room's other door leading to where the three trikes were parked and planted a mine on each cycle's front wheels along with a remote detonator receiver. Both of which, he had hidden in his armor's hip pockets.

After coming back inside, he then asked the newly returned young guard while looking up. "What's that in the ceiling?"

Confused, the guard had also looked up only to find himself the recipient of a right uppercut on the jaw. He then fell to the floor already knocked out.

This time, the Security Six's mechanic had hefted him on his broad left shoulder before stowing the guard in the broom closet. Junpei then walked out as calmly as he could to avoid suspicion.

-oOo-

After separating with Mark at the outskirts of Bartlesville after an hour of peaceful convoying, Akane had followed the highway around the fortress city. That particular stretch of concrete was closely guarded by the city's heavy Vulcan machine guns.

A quarter-circle west around the city and she turned left for Highway 60.

After traveling for another five miles, the Stiletto had found itself near the entrance of Twoeagles Ranch - the palatial home of John Twoeagles and its destination.

Akane had pulled over at a vacant wooded lot, about ten meters before the ten inch steel gate itself.

She then pulled out her newly given map to do some last minute planning. Her concentration was eventually broken by the A.I.'s melodious voice.

"Mom, I jus' intercepted a transmission from the Twoeagles security force. It would seem that somebody went thorough the wire fence in Sector 249, near the highway," Angela said as she had began her report."The fence is currently down for twenty feet or so and an electrical crew is needed immediately. Furthermore, it would be scarcely guarded until much later in the afternoon since most of the guards will be placed near the wedding site."

"That's good. Thank you, dear." Akane replied absently as she had looked for Sector 249 on the map in her hand before peeking at the ranch proper.

As it was described in the map given to her by the New Tulsa AADA, the ranch was surrounded by a heavy chain link fence, with electrified barbed wire on top. The front gate was guarded by a heavily armored checkpoint.

The checkpoint itself has a turret armed with an 40mm auto cannon barrel. A single armored guard was checking the IDs of each passing car. He asked the duelist on what is her business here.

She told him the password and he let her in immediately, slowly backing away from the Stiletto as the black car went though the opened gate.

After passing the guardhouse, Akane had noticed three limpet mines that were pasted in the lower part of the right gate posts, a certified blind spot to those looking from the gatehouse's direction.

The guards were not able to notice it since the guardhouse did not have a back window anyway. The said explosives were also cleverly placed on the steel posts in such a way that it would look like someone had pasted three large wads of gray chewing gum on them.

'It has to be Takuya's doing. He always tries something outrageous to make the rest of us laugh even during a mission,' Akane thought with a wry smile. 'Thank God, they made it through safely.'

"Hey, mom. The weather has made a dramatic change. It's now a sunny day," The A.I. reported with an audible chirp.

"So it is. Alright, let's head straight to the ceremony. It would seem that Takuya and Junpei had done their job well."

"Yay."

Following the map, the Stiletto had stopped some distance from an outdoor pavilion with a fountain, near the center of the ranch.

After seeing the other vehicles of her team parked nearby, Akane had dismounted and was met by a happy Arika Tenryou and Karin Karakuchi.

The two young women had led their older friend (and superior) to their seats nearest the wedding party. Both young women had already worn their improved blended body armor as a precaution from kamikaze attacks by Twoeagle's enemies.

A quick peek at the weeding enourage had showed a smirking Twoeagles, looking suave in his black tuxedo looking improved body armor.

Some distance behind him was the "bride" – Sayuri Nonoka. Her eyes were watery; her make up was splotchy in places; and her dark brown hair was a bit disheveled. She was even holding her bridal gown styled blended improved body armor's skirt in anxiety.

Off to one side at the back of the troupe, had stood a slightly depressed President Nonoka in blended improved body armor also made in the image of a brown tuxedo. He was surrounded by six armed guards in military grade body armor.

Sanosuke was also thinking that his daughter's rescuers were just too late to intervene, not knowing how wrong he really was at that very moment. He was so depressed that he did not even see Akane sit down in one of the seats nearest to the bride's current location.

At a minute to one, the Wedding March had begun to play and the wedding party slowly moved through the red carpeted aisle towards the center of the pavilion. A priest was waiting for them at the said location.

At exactly one o'clock, multiple explosions had rocked the whole ranch down to its concrete foundations. One of the worst ones was from the garage, where the planted limpet mine had triggered the ammunition dump there and it resulted in a second and much bigger explosion.

The frightened crowd had dispersed as everyone went his or her own ways to find a safer place to hide nearby.

With a curt nod at each other, the three women had gone into action. From behind the Security Six parked near the pavilion, Izumi Kanbarra had lobbed some smoke grenades.

Ikki Tenryou himself had made a small ruckus by running to and then delivering a powerful left hook to a surprised Twoeagles's right jaw as the green smoke had spread throughout the whole pavilion.

Koji Karakuchi had joined his best friend when two beefy security guards tried to double team the famed duelist as their latter two's boss was unconscious on the concrete grounds for the next hour or so.

Takuya and Junpei had guided the pleased president to the waiting blue van, knocking out every guard in their way.

Izumi still threw some smoke grenades and even some flash grenades to the charging guards from the nearby buildings from her place in the right front door of the blue van.

A quick footed guard had tried to slam the blonde to the concrete roadway but was himself slammed to the thicker concrete deck, face first by the said blonde's furious husband.

Akane and the other two women were guiding the surprised bride to the waiting Stiletto. They had even thrown a few punches and even some kicks at the guards blocking their way. Karin had even landed a bone-cracking roundhouse kick at the skinny guard's face who was approaching them from the right.

The orange haired mother of one had smirked at the sight of her pale faced husband and their racer friend as the latter two had stood shell-shocked only a foot away from their own vehicles.

Arika had even taken a quick photo for posterity before heading for her husband's car while Akane and Sayuri giggled as they were entering the Stiletto. A third giggle coming from inside the car was too soft to be heard by everyone out of earshot.

By the time the Twoeagles security force had sufficiently re-grouped, the convoy composed of the Stiletto, Tiger Claws, Night Hawk, and Security Six were already taking the Sector 249 escape route.

The convoy had just exited to the highway when they were joined by the Altron and the Road Runner. Both vehicles had come from the eastern end of the highway where they had engaged and destroyed the six reversed tricycles and two mid-size cars tailing the convoy from a respectable distance.

Angela could not contain herself and greeted the almost complete Omega Force to Sayuri's and her father's surprise and resigned disgust for nearly everyone else in an encrypted radio channel as well as in the car's speakers.

"Angela, we have ta talk about your speaking when there are other people around." Ranma had quipped in the Road Runner's radio's mike, his controlled tone not successfully hiding his obvious disappointment at his AI daughter's mistake.

"Sorry, Dad."

Sayuri's heart went out to the Reventón's A.I. as a soft whimper was heard thorough the Reventon's speakers as well as the airwaves.

"It's ok… Mr. Saotome was it? She was just so happy to see you guys. It's completely understandable," Sayuri had pleaded on the radio.

"Ms. Nonoka, forgive my rudeness but Commander Saotome has a valid point. The three of us namely the Arbalest, the Stiletto, and I should not even be known to posses such advanced artificial intelligence with the capacity to communicate with our owners and other members of the Omega Force like other humans,"Altron's A.I – Nataku said over the airwaves.

"Even so, she reminds me of a little waif who was so happy to see her family again." Sayuri said as she tried again to make her case heard.

"She has a point, Ranma. Even though she and her 'brothers' are a well-kept secret, Angela is programmed to be your teen aged daughter," Koji had now added his own two cents to the on air discussion. "After this mission, I'm going to place AIs on all our vehicles including the Road Runner and the three Hercules transport planes. I hope you don't mind."

"I'm cool with it. For now, let's jus' get ta the Hercules and get out of this damn war zone."Ranma said as he had crumbled to the pressure but still reminded his team that they were still in danger.

Before he could continue, Kaname Sagara's voice had interrupted him in the tactical network.

"Commander Saotome, we cannot ride the Hercules transport planes home since they were forced to take off prematurely. Our forces are currently engaging the enemy in the forests and fields around the airport." Kaname said before pausing for breath.

"The rest of their other forces as well as those of our own allies are already converging there. Luke's and Tear's forces are even taking out the bulk of the enemy forces coming from the Ranch's perimeter," Kaname was saying as she had ended her report.

There was a second brief pause before Kaname's voice was heard again. "Sousuke and I will now be joining your convoy on its way south. Luke is already assuming command on all our forces and has asked us to help out in the extraction of the hostage."

"The more, the merrier. Come on in, Kaname." This time, Izumi's out of the blue comment had elicited a round of laughter in the airwaves and in the vehicles as well.

Ranma had led the convoy as it had turned back and taken the route south, bypassing the fortress city of Bartlesville in the process.

Fifteen minutes later, the Arbalest itself had come into view a mile behind them and closing in fast. Ranma then ordered Koji and Ikki to take the lead while he and Shinji position themselves at the Stiletto's two sides.

Finally, he had told the newly arrived Sousuke and Takuya to take the rear. Akane, on her husband's advice, had also turned on the electronic conceal system to keep the Stiletto from being seen by their pursuer's sensors as the other vehicles had taken their places alongside the digitally masked Lamborghini.

Most of them were puzzled as to why there were set up like this and why the Stiletto's ECS was the only one engaged.

It was only when the various road gangs, who heard about the Louisianan president and first daughter's escape from Twoeagle's ranch, tried to take them for themselves did the rest of the team finally see the wisdom in the formation.

All of the gangs were defeated by thick white smoke, an oil slick that suddenly burst into flames, napalm mines, machine guns rounds, Gauss gun needles, auto cannon rounds, laser beams, recoil-less rifle rounds, and pulse laser beams that seemed to protect the convoy on all sides.

Louisiana's First Daughter and President had to gasp at how efficient the Omega Force could really be and said as much on the radio.

They were later told by an encoded radio message from nearby New Tulsa to park in the city's AADA local branch's underground parking lot.

-oOo-

After the convoy had arriving at the said parking lot, everyone headed to the set table in the cafeteria two floors above to fill their famished appetites as soon as they had disembarked from their vehicles.

All except for two people who were rooted to where they stood, right at the doorway leading to the elevator itself.

"Sayuri, I-" Hiroshi began to speak but found himself unable to continue. He simply brushed his curvy and short light brown hair with his right hand as he had slowly neared the dark haired young woman who was head shorter then him.

"Hiroshi, let's start all over. I mean, I'm free again and now we can even marry with my father's blessing."

"Let's not rush, 'Yuri." Hiroshi said as he had stopped walking in front of his old flame. "We still have a lot of time. I mean, even if we have ta adopt a child after we marry, then we'll do it so that we can be certain that we made the right choice."

"Thank you, 'Roshi. Thank you." The two lovebirds had by then each other kissed tenderly, unaware of their parked "audience".

"Alright, now this is what I call a happy ending!"

"Angela!"

* * *

Jeez, a double entendre type of ending that almost broke the fourth wall too. For those who were surprised to see two Gundum Seed cameos in the first paragraph, let us just say that they kind of fit in their given roles anyway.

As with all the cameos in this story, I do not own them so please don't sue.

Epilogue's next and it's a dozy. See ya there.


	5. On a Saturday Sunday Afternoon

Alright, this one's the last chapter and a sort of wrap up of this story. This epilogue is simply a family chapter with plenty of laughter and a bit of romance for the extra kick in the flavor part.

Again, I added two more cameos from but they are the last ones, I promise. Once again, I ask that you just read this chapter and enjoy. Reviews are simply optional.

* * *

Epilogue – **On a Saturday (Sunday) Afternoon**

Tsukihime Summer Residence – April 7, 2044, 10:00 AM - Saturday

Daisuke and Yuka Tsukihime had just invited the whole Omega Force as well as President Sanosuke Nonoka and his only daughter – Sayuri for a feast after all of them had received a hero's welcome in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a good two days ago from the said dignitaries.

The Chief of Louisiana's Presidential Security Group had gone to the nearest supermarket in downtown Austin along with his only daughter- Hana.

The reason being that both father and daughter had taken upon themselves the buying of ice cream, pizzas, and beer that were to be served along with what Yuka and her cooks would be preparing for the returning heroes.

Yuka herself could not believe that she was made a hero simply because she had helped organize a secret rescue mission for the good of the Louisiana's presidency and its people.

To the general public, it was due to the organized efforts of the AADA and the funding of the other Oil Barons that had made the whole rescue possible.

Yet there she was, standing in the middle of both her husband - Daisuke and her best friend - Lieutenant Commander Akane Saotome, while holding her six year old daughter's shaking left hand amidst the thousands of people cheering for them.

Hana was simply anxious at 100,000 plus people looking back at her, all of them cheering for line of heroes standing in front of the Presidential Palace.

The little girl's nervousness was clearly shown in her tight grip on her mother's gloved left hand and the fear in her light green eyes as she held on tightly to her mother's armored left leg with her other hand.

Yuka had assured the poor girl that it was alright since she and her husband were there to protect her.

A quick look to her left had confirmed her suspicions that Ryu Saotome was also similarly anxious since the six year old boy had used his parents' armored legs to shield himself from the intimidating crowd, only peeking at the little space in between the armored pairs.

The boy's parents were quietly chuckling as they had coaxed their own offspring to come out of his hiding place.

-oOo-

After one of her maids had shaken her out of her daydream, the light brown haired government official resumed cooking her special homemade gumbo for their honored and famished guests. The assault team was actually in the country club, a few blocks away from her residence.

Yuka had told them to play some basketball or something while she and her cooks readied the served food.

Almost all of the girls had asked to help out in the cooking but she politely refused since they did most of the work in the recently concluded rescue.

Luckily for her, Commander Ranma Saotome told everyone in the kitchen that most of the Omega Force women would have burned the dishes anyway with some nods in agreement from his male subordinates except for a select few whose wives or girlfriend could cook.

The immediate effect was that his wife - Akane had challenged him and the other male members of the Omega Force for a soccer game against her and the other women in Zilker Park.

Hiroshi Yamamoto and Sayuri Nonoka would be the referees and President Nonoka would act as scorer for the impromptu game.

To compensate for the lack of girls in Akane's team, one of the younger maids had told Akane that she would call on some of her friends in the neighborhood who also play soccer in their spare time to play as well.

The pony-tailed team leader had agreed to both suggestions and even added that the losing team would serve the winners hand and foot for the duration of their stay in the Tsukimori summer residence. He had also added that this would also apply to the additional players as well to Yuka's horror.

The light brown haired woman then put her foot down and said that the suggestion for the losing team to serve the winning team is forbidden in her house.

She had also suggested that the losers simply treat the winners' lunch the very next day. It was this suggestion that was seconded by President Nonoka so the guys had no other choice but to agree.

-oOo-

As Yuka and her maids were preparing the meals, they had listened to the music on the radio when an hourly news bulletin had reported that John Twoeagle's oil empire had crumbled as the whole company was undergoing a massive change in management.

In fact, TwoEagle's Oil was given by the Oklahoman government to the United States 2 as a form of apology in the former country's own inability to act upon what would have been a major hindrance in its later policies.

President Burke then had the said company be converted into a government utility that would not only provide oil for the population of America but also do some research on making synthetic oil on the side.

The prices of oil worldwide has dropped slightly since then as the United States 2 now has gotten some oil rigs and refineries of its own. As a side effect, multinational companies that have been offering alternative fuels has stepped up their own advertorial campaigns.

Thus, more and more people have been buying hydrogen powered duel cars as well as other hybrid models. It was expected that in the next ten years, the type of vehicles on the road worldwide would either be gasoline powered, electric powered, hydrogen powered or a combination of any of the three.

The Undersecretary of Energy had to sigh at the additional work in her job as a result of the changing energy but was happy at the fact that at least, she and her friends had sent Twoeagles behind bars where he belongs.

Her husband was also planning on making their own vehicles into hybrids to ease their needs of finding a charging station every two hundred miles or so.

-oOo-

Lieutenant General Soun Tendou had arrived in the Tsukihime vacation house around eleven am with his wife- Kimiko Tendou, Suzanne fon Fabre, and a few others in tow.

This was because they were asked by the other children of the Omega Force's members to bring them straight here from the Fabre mansion in Palestine to give Ryu and Hana some needed company. Soun himself did not think twice about going if it meant seeing his favorite grandson again.

Then again, they had to let Riou Sanada and his family stay in Atlanta, since their five year old daughter- Nanami had caught the flu while playing in the park when she and her parents were drenched in a sudden cloudburst. Soun was told of this when they had visited the Sanada family in their home in Atlanta nearly a week ago.

Riou and Eille did send their regards and had even sent a home baked chocolate cake through Soun for good luck as well as initiative for a successful mission but since the mission was over when the cake had been diverted to the Tsukihime summer home, it was taken in as their thanks for a job well done.

The same could be said for Syaoran Kazama since he was with his grandparents on both sides of the family along with his uncle and aunts, the reunion being in the Kazama's mansion in Olympia, Washington.

The Kazama and Tokiwa clans had sent some homemade apple pies via courier to compensate for the five year old boy's absence in the celebrations, most of them were for the boy's worried mother – Kyoko Kazama-Tokiwa.

In spite of this, Soun told the said clans that he would bring his whole team and their families in Olympia to make up for taking Shinji and Kyoko in such a dangerous and secretive mission just before school starts for most of the older kids in September.

The children had quickly entered the mansion and looked for Ryu as soon as their rides had stopped behind the said mansion's gates. The brown haired Saotome was practicing his katas in the living room when they had arrived since he was waiting for Hana to come home.

"Hey, Ryu. Wanna haf a we-match?" A three year old boy with unkempt long light brown hair said as he had neared the surprised Saotome boy.

"Sure, Aslan but we'll have to look for a dojo somewhere since we can't fight here. Auntie Yuka didn't even know that I'm doing some katas now," Ryu said as he had relaxed his stance. "How's about us playing something else instead, like… Scrabble. Yeah, Scrabble's good."

"Let's pway, let's pway." A one year old girl, with dark red hair styled in a double ox tail, had suggested to the boys' disdain. She was actually jumping up and down on the intricately designed carpeted floor in her excitement. All the while, she had ignorned the tittering of the two older girls in the said group.

"Uh, Rose. They're about… seven of us here and Scrabble can only be played by four people. Sorry, squirt." A four year old brown haired boy with well combed hair said after a bit of hesitation. "Besides, us big kids will be playing anyway while you little guys jus' watch and learn."

"Y'know, Ken. I wike you bwetta when you shwut yaw bwig mouth," Aslan fon Fabre said with an irritated tone.

"Aslan, it's not that I'm being on Ken's side or anything, but he's actually right on this one." Another girl, this time with orange hair in pigtails had spoken up while giving Ken Tenryou a pointed look.

"Guys, stop fightin' with each other. We can all play hide and seek so everyone can have some fun," This time, one of the second oldest kids with ruffled black hair and green eyes had said with authority since he and his twin sister were the oldest among the set after Ryu and Hana.

"Thanks, Teo. You too, Megumi." Ryu said as he had sat down on one of the sea green sofa seats. He felt relief that Teo Mcdohl had relieved the tension between Aslan and the slightly older kids.

He just did not want anyone to feel sad and even cry at this surprise party for their parents in the Omega Force.

"Alright, let's ask Auntie Yuka if we can play in the yard." Ryu Saotome had commanded the smaller children as they marched to the kitchen.

-oOo-

Yuka was amazed to see the second generation of the Omega Force march in line like little soldiers with Rose fon Fabre in the point position, patiently guided by one of the older girls.

In fact, she almost let go of the plastic stirrer she was holding to the glass pitcher filled with orange juice in her surprise.

One of the maids did stain her black and white uniform with some spaghetti sauce from her dish due to the sudden emergence of the children in the kitchen's door.

"Alright, kids. Whadda ya want?" She said with false harshness in an effort to hide her bubbling laughter.

"Auntie Yuka, can we pway hide and sweek in the back yard?" The three year old blonde named Hikari Kanbarra asked with doe like eyes. A chorus of "please" echoed from the platoon of youngsters surprisingly even Ryu joined in.

"Alright, jus' make sure that you don't break anything. Also Hana will be joinin' you in a few minutes since she and her father are on their way home as we speak."

The kiddie platoon shouted their glee and ran to the door leading to the back yard. They also shouted "Thank you" at the top of their lungs as they left the kitchen.

"Ma'am, you're really a softy when it comes to kids." One of the maids had remarked as she mixed the spaghetti sauce in the heated wok. The other maids were also busy making pot roast, some okonimiyaki, curry, fried chicken, and even some grilled tuna fish.

"Maybe so, but I still have to hold the line somewhere so that they wouldn't run me over." The thirty something government official said as she had placed the pitcher to the refrigerator.

-oOo-

While they were going home in their aqua blue Dodge Caravan armed with two linked machine guns in front, a military pulse laser in the turret, and a mine dropper in the rear, Hana had asked her father on what he would do if she was to have a lot of visitors around her age this very day.

"Well, pumpkin. I'll have ta make some ground rules on what they should or should **not** do in the mansion such as no running around in the halls and breakin' some things," The thirty three year old black haired man said with a barely hidden grimace.

In his mind, Daisuke was already imagining what their summer home's interior would look like if he and his wife did let the kids loose with no adult supervision whatsoever.

Privately, he had hoped that his wife could rein in the rambunctious "visitors" before he and their daughter do arrive back home.

"Ok, Daddy."

The rest of the thirty minute drive was quiet as Daisuke had taken some nervous glances at his dark haired daughter who was now smiling widely.

A scary thought that involved Hana and Ryu on telling their friends via Instant Messaging to come over and join the party came into mind. He immediately shook it off lest he gets into an accident or an auto duel due to a near miss.

-oOo-

Back in the Tsukihime summer home, the tired teams had arrived about half past noon and had even settled down on the seats in the living room or just sat on the carpeted floor.

Yuka had seen them coming through the house's security system and she asked them on how the soccer game was and who won when they met in the living room.

"Two words, Yuka. We lost," Ranma said with a loud groan from his place on the sofa. He then opened the TV in front of him to watch a mixed martial arts exhibition match along with the other new arrivals.

"Actually, it was a lucky shot from Delia here that won the match. The rest of us jus' paved the way," Akane added, her tired face beaming with pride as she and the others had also sat down and watched the match on TV while she nodded in the direction of the younger players.

"Miss Akane, if it wasn't for your and the other women's interference, Mister Ranma or any of the men would 'ave stolen the ball away from me before I could even take a shot." The girl with dyed pink hair interjected as she heard the compliment.

Delia was talking to her friends when she heard the given praise.

"Yeah, Miss Akane. You and the other women are the real stars of the game. We couldn't even get past the men if it were not for your effective blocking," Another teen added with stars in her blue eyes.

"Really, then that means that you guys had played your best. By the way, what was the final score?" Yuka said as she had turned to her friend- Sayuri.

"It was 2 to1. The guys were amazing at the teamwork they've been showing but the girls showed how tough a defense can really be made." The dark haired young woman was actually gushing with pride at the skill of the players.

"Well, we can talk all about it later. So how's about we eat." Yuka said as she had taken all of them at their word and led the famished players to the readied dining room where the other new arrivals were waiting for them.

-oOo-

Daisuke was about to turn into his house's driveway while his daughter was readying the remote controlled gate opener when they both spied two young people in their late teens approaching their vacation house.

Seeing the blue bandanna in the forehead of the male half of the pair, the Chief of Presidential Security had honked his mini van's horn twice and called the two over.

The symbol of a red circle was divided by a dark line that expanded slightly at its ends that was also surrounded by a yellow ring was sewn into the middle of the blue bandanna making the said dress piece so unique that only one person in the whole world wore it – Netto Hikari.

Beside the lanky brunette is his red headed girlfriend - Meiru Sakurai.

"Netto, Meiru. I thought you guys would never get here," Daisuke said as he rolled down the driver side window. Hana happily waved at her two sometime babysitters before pushing the button on the gate opener remote, making the armored gate separate and turn to each side of the driveway.

Beyond the gate and parked at the concrete driveway were the Roadrunner (a customized yellow gas burner), the Night Hawk (a black Porsche 997 GT3), the Tiger Claws (a metallic blue Ford Taurus), the Soul Eater (a black Mitsubishi GTO Spider), the Black Beauty (a black Ferrari Enzo), and the Security Six (a GMC Savanna Van LS G1500).

"Yeah, well. Dad called us up early this morning to check on his new baby," Netto replied with glee.

"Don't you mean babies, Netto?" Meiru interjected with her bare hands on her slim hips. Her brown eyes were showing her inner frustration at her best friend's (now boyfriend) omission of a particular subject that was important to her.

"Whoa, come on in so we can continue this lively discussion without much interruption." Daisuke said before driving his mini-van to the waiting garage. Hana laughed the puzzled expressions of her favorite babysitters.

"Ok, see ya there. Hey squirt; I can now put together that new dollhouse of yours since I just bought the correct parts…with Meiru's help of course." Netto added just before Meiru would pull him aside by the ear since the mini-van was already entering the five car garage.

"C'mon, bandanna boy. It's time for lunch an' Mrs. Tsukihime already told she had made a large batch of curry just for you."

"Really?" The lanky teen leaned down a bit before giving his shorter girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips then heading for the mansion's front door, running and screaming his joy.

"Oooh, the nerve of that guy." Meiru mumbled angrily as she had followed the drooling teen to the mansion, passing through the now closing gates.

-oOo-

Before lunch even began, the newest arrivals were introduced to the Omega Force and other visitors. Most of the guests were surprised to know that Dr Yuichiro Hikari was part of the research team that Mithril had invited for a special project.

But the project was top secret so the other football players were understandably never told about it.

After all the meal was eaten, the fellow football players had said their goodbyes since they have friends waiting for them at the local mall.

The children were given a grand tour by Hana while the adults plus Netto and Meiru had discussed about Dr. Hikari's latest project in the spacious den so as to preserve their privacy.

The secret project was actually the development of two more artificial intelligence programs for Netto's new Lotus Evora (Savior). The light blue sports car itself was a gift from Mithril to Dr. Hikari for his help in the research of artificial intelligence that resulted in the creation of the Arbalest, Altron, and Stiletto AI programs.

But since the good doctor already had his own car – a metallic green Honda Accord which he and his wife had quite an attachment to, he gave the new car to his only son as a present for his recent seventeenth birthday, in June last year.

For his only son's upcoming eighteenth birthday, he had planned to add the two new AIs that were currently being added to his cyber repertoire both of which are currently named – Rockman exe and Roll exe.

Both AIs would be sharing the same vehicle - called Savior, since Meiru did not have a vehicle of her own yet and that Dr. Hikari wanted to test the theory of two AIs working together as driver and gunner of a duel car when neither Netto nor Meiru were present in the vehicle.

This would also make the Evora almost fully independent as it could both drive itself and even use its two linked front machine guns and turreted twin laser at its enemies without any human intervention.

All of them had mixed feelings with an fully automated duel car since it would make them unnecessary but Soun told his team that it would only be used in case of dire emergencies.

They had completely forgotten that three of their own vehicles have the same abilities only in a limited manner (being run by a singular AI) with the rest to follow.

From what Netto had told them, it was still in the developmental stage since the personalities of both AIs were so different that a lot of software functions had to be either changed or removed altogether for the whole double AI concept to even work in the laboratories.

"Dr. Hikari told me that he had used mine and Netto's personalities in the programming of Roll's and Rockman's personalities respectively with a few added tweaks and he assured us that they will work well together when they are installed in the car's vehicular computer's operating system," The strawberry haired girl said with a sigh and some breaths.

"Well then, how 'bout we all cool off by the poolside?" Yuka said to his guest's approval. She did this since the general atmosphere in the den was too cool for her liking.

-oOo-

An hour later, the older folk were lounging in the concrete deck by the five meter by ten meter swimming pool's longer side while drinking Bloody Mary cocktails for the older women or Wife Beater for the older guys while the children had played around in the pool itself.

For the younger set with Netto and Meiru being the oldest, they had just settled for Coca Cola or Dr. Pepper served in glasses filled with ice cubes as they exited the pool temporarily through the steps or the grab rails.

The two teens had also worked on Hana's two story dollhouse on the grassy lawn a meter from the pool's shorter side with some help from the other children especially Ryu.

After the job was finished, they once again looked over their new charges. The said dollhouse was later delivered to Hana's room by cheerful maids since they were about to clean it anyway.

Rose even went back and forth between the teens and her mother – Tear fon Fabre as well as her doting grandmother – Suzanne fon Fabre as the latter two women had drank and talked with the other women.

Meiru had quickly fallen in love with the red headed and slightly chubby little girl who always jumped into her lap as soon as she arrived while the other younger girls watched and laughed from their vantage points in the pool's shallow end.

Netto had to gently lift Rose away from the bowled over older red head before slowly lowering her in the two feet deep part of the pool where Hana, Hikari, and Megumi were waiting for her, along with the dirty yellow rubber tube that Meiru had slipped up her chubby legs.

But when the most of the men had started to complain about the Hollywood hunks being talked about by their significant others (as well as the mothers of two of the team members), the kids were ordered out of the pool before the older men and Netto himself were either thrown or pushed into it.

The brunet teen even had a minor argument with his red headed best friend and now girlfriend since he had believed that he looked more handsome than her crush as soon as he had surfaced violently above the clear water, complete with him shaking the said water off his dark brown hair.

"Why were Dad and the others thrown in the pool, Teo?" Ryu asked in behalf of the younger kids who were now sitting right behind Meiru near the shallow end of the pool just as their red headed babysitter was pulled by her slim waist into the cool water below by her brunet boyfriend.

The accompanying screech just before the red headed teen had hit the water surface almost drowned out the spoken question.

"I don't know Ryu but it has something to do with what they said about them being more handsome than that Brad Pitt person in the classical movies," Teo answered as he had watched his own father emerge from the pool, grab his surprised mother from her lounge chair, and carry her bridal style before leaping back into the pool with a big splash. All of this while shouting "Cowabunga."

Prior to his leap back to the waiting chlorinated water, Tir's bare chest was lightly pounded by his slightly shorter wife (Kasumi's) equally bare fists.

'Dad sure can be weird sometimes,' Teo thought with a slight shake of his head upon seeing the aforementioned scene.

"Man, Dad's goin' to be sleepin' on the couch tonight huh, bro?" Sonia Mcdohl had said to her twin brother as she had sat down on his right side.

Both of them were watching the wacky events unfold before their very eyes along with the other mystified kids.

It was around this time that the other men had caught on to what was happening and where chasing their loved ones in the lawn and pool side before duplicating Tir's wet attempt at revenge.

To show off his superiority to his men, Ranma had even jumped high enough to do a shallow half-twist dive while holding his screaming wife by the waist at the pool's deepest end.

As for the rest of the guys, they had either carried their wives, bridal style or caveman style, before leaping back into the pool or in Shinji's case - grab his wife's waterproof Nikon camera and glasses while giving her a long kiss on the lips.

He then threw the said items along with his own glasses at Junpei's and his girlfriend's hands and falling back into the pool with Kyoko still in his arms.

President Nonoka and General Tendou were actually slapping their bare knees as they had laughed heartily at the wild scene from their aluminum seats in the other end of the pool.

The former was simply amused at the antics of the team that saved his bacon less than a week ago.

The latter, on the other hand, was actually thinking at how funny the women looked as they emerged from the pool depths, a good six feet at its deepest point.

Soun did glare a little at Ranma for his nearly dangerous stunt but his anger evaporated as soon as Akane emerged from the pool, already fuming mad.

Even Suzanne and Kimiko was getting into the act as they half halfheartedly scolded the men for setting a bad example to their children through their horse play. They did excuse Shinji's attempt though since the younger boys were already showing their disgust by saying at the top of their lungs - "Eww...cooties!"

"Yeah, sis but you know Dad. He simply enjoys doing it even if it means that he'll sleep on the couch again and again." Teo now looked at his "younger by half a minute" sister before telling the kids and their guardians that they will all be heading for the garage in the meantime.

"You guys, go on ahead. I'll just tell Mom where we'll be going," Megumi Karakuchi had told her friends while she headed to the group of wet and angry older women who were clutching onto the terracotta paving on the pool's longer side facing the house as they also surfaced abruptly.

-oOo-

In the five car garage on the opposite end of the mansion, the three AIs in their specialized vehicles were surprised to see though their front and side cameras - a group of children heading towards them. As before, Rose was guided along with one of the older children on their way to the said garage.

"Hey, guys. What brings you ta this neck of the woods?" Angela was the first to speak up as the children neared them.

"Sorry, Miss Angela but we're wondering on how handsome that Brad Pitt person really is?" Ken Tenryou said in a polite manner since he did not want a repeat of the tongue lashing he got from both the Stiletto's AI and his mom when he said something impolite to Angela the last time they had met.

"Oooh, now that's one sexy hunk of man beef. Too bad he's an old foggy now," She said in a sing-song voice.

"Angela, would you kindly repeat the answer you gave us and in English please." Al said as he was thoroughly confused with the given reply as with the others who were scratching their heads, virtual or not.

The only one that did understand Angela was the now arriving and still slightly damp Meiru who was pulling her boyfriend along by the arm.

As with the children who had arrived in the garage before them, they were still in their swimsuits.

"Actually, she said that Brad Pitt was hot in his younger years." The strawberry haired teen said impassively to the surprise of the children and AIs who tried so much to understand what the Stiletto's AI meant.

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Nataku said in exasperation. The only answer from the Stiletto's external speakers was the sound of a raspberry being blown.

It was this action that caused a lot of laughter to echo in the filled garage's white concrete walls and ceiling with the Altron's AI not even respecting the childish insult with a comeback of his own.

"Wait; are you Netto Hikari, the only son of Dr. Yuuichiro Hikari?" Al said to the laughing older brunet, stemming the latter's guffaws a bit.

"Yep, that's me so you guys must be the three Artificial intelligences that my dad had a hand in makin'." Netto replied as he had looked at the three cars parked side by side in the spacious garage. "Am I right or am I right?"

The brunet then ducked accordingly as a lithe hand had just passed the empty space where his head had been a second earlier. "I was just joshing 'em, Mei."

"That we are, Mr. Hikari." Al replied with an uncharacteristic grin evident in his tone of voice.

"I was wonderin' if Dad had some ways to get in touch with you since he did develop your core programming and all," Netto said as he neared the Vanquish's front end. "Then again, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. By the way, just call me Netto, ok?"

"We want to, Mr. Hik-Netto. We actually communicate with him through electronic correspondences where he also attaches our necessary upgrades and updates," Nataku responded with an audible grunt.

When Al had noticed that most of the children and even the teens were scratching their heads in confusion, he told them that Dr. Hikari communicates with them through e-mail.

"Al, that is exactly what I told them in our terms." Nataku now said with incredulity noticeable in his own tone of voice.

'These human children should not have knowledge fed to them in a silver spoon. It would lessen their hunger for such useful things,' The Altron's AI thought with some bitterness. 'They should be able to learn things on their own even at such an early age.'

Coming back from his musings, Nataku noticed that Netto was worried about the inclusion of two AIs in his new sport car's vehicular computer system since it may only bring more harm than good.

But if the AIs do learn to cooperate with each other as he and his electronic siblings had done in the recent past, then Netto was worried over nothing.

Nataku had kept silent as he panned his front cameras on the curious scene before him where the little ones wanted to know more about artificial intelligences and how do they work as they had asked the "experts" composed of Netto, Al, and that loudmouthed brat - Angela.

'Hmm, maybe there is hope for them after all.' Nataku had mentally added, not noticing his virtual mouth curving downward in the form of a smile.

-oOo-

Netto had thanked the stars above when Doris Halloway came in the garage with news that the other adults were having a barbecue in the lawn outside to keep himself from answering any more difficult technical questions from the inquisitive children.

Doris is actually Junpei's girlfriend who is a news reporter of the National Broadcasting Corporation. The said television network would be celebrating its 117th year of broadcasting in June with a special presentation about a ten story building being constructed to house a facility producing farm products.

The whole building would be self powered by means of methane gas that come from the dairy and piggery farms in two of its lower floors. Doris was one of the reporters who was chosen to be given a segment in the said special.

"Come on or you'll miss the smoked salmon that Mrs. Tendou is preparing. It's deelish," The blonde haired twenty nine year old said with aplomb as she had waggled her eyebrows at the younger set making them laugh yet again.

The humans said their goodbyes to the three AIs as the former had trooped off towards the lawn beside the swimming pool.

The AIs had responded in kind before logging in the internet thanks to the specially made infrared hub hastily attached by Daisuke and the others early that morning.

As they arrived at the tables was already set with barbecued meat and grilled fish. The kids were also guided by mothers to the three stall shower room so that they could rinse off the nearly dried off chlorine filled water that had stuck to their skin and change to their drier clothes.

The teens had first picked up their duffel bags before heading towards the showers near the pool's northern and shorter side where they had showered and changed.

The men had also set up a Bose DVD Home Entertainment System as far away from the pool as possible while readying a transformer and extension cord to power the whole system.

Sayuri had already pulled out some Karaoke box DVDs that she had bought from the local Chinatown in Lamar Boulevard and was already picking out her favorites among the set.

-oOo-

After filling their belies under the twinkling stars, everyone even the maids each had their turn to sing their favorite song as they watched the words pop out of the video screen.

Daisuke and Hiroshi once tried to sneak in **R Kelly's** song **"Ignition"** but the video was stopped midway by an angry Sayuri and Yuka to the children's puzzlement and the other men's embarrassment.

The other women themselves were similarly upset that two of their friends had tried to sneak an adult song in the celebrations even when there were children nearby.

Instead, both men had changed their selection to his other song - **"I'm Your Angel" **so as not provide a bad example to the children who were intently listening.

The children themselves asked their parents as to why the song was changed only to be told that the previous song was not meant to be listened to by anyone under the age of eighteen with some knowing glances at Netto's and Meiru's direction.

Later, Ranma had tried his hand at singing by making his own rendition of **"Wild Boys" **by the English group **Duran Duran**. His voice was not the best but it was raw enough to make the song a sort of anthem for the Omega Force from then on.

What actually brought the house down was the energetic rendition by Netto and Meiru of a J-pop song named **"Doobee Doowop Communication"** originally sung by the group **Babamania**.

Netto rapped while Meiru sang her heart out in tune with the beat, while keeping their eyes on the flapping white wide screen.

Their voices had blended so well with the music that almost everyone else had thought that they had experience in singing the J-pop hit before.

The small crowd had even jumped in sync with the brunet near the end of the song as Netto himself had a lot of fun in the rapping part of the said song, complete with hand movements as he had set his wireless mike on a mike stand just so his hands were free to move.

Little Rose was actually carried in both arms by her gyrating dad, Luke. He even jumped for her when everybody else did, to her mom's and even her grand mom's delight.

The other men were also dancing in cadence with the pounding beat to the amusement of their wives and children.

Even the kids were also lending their voices to the loud cheering and even asking for an encore, especially Rose and Hana who loved seeing their idols sing to them and the other youngsters.

-oOo-

After the party had ended at eight o'clock with most of the children being escorted by their mothers and grandmothers to the latter's rooms. Rose was even carried to her room by her doting mother.

The men had helped the maids clean up the mess and return the Home Entertainment System back to the storage shed. As for Netto and Meiru, both teens had left after getting a tearful goodbye (complete with group hugs) from the younger set.

Both Soun and Sanosuke did well in organizing the clean up, stating that they were too old for strenuous stuff like picking up the trash, wiping the garden tables, et cetera. There were a few dissident voices from the younger men but a glare from either or both old men were enough to silence them.

As a result of their earlier stunt, most of the men were also forced to sleep in both the living room and the den while the children slept with their mothers.

It was around eight in the evening that the children had gotten two long distance calls from Olympia, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia respectively from the wide screened video phone at the living room. The mothers had stayed in the rooms to prepare the beds and whatnot.

The callers were identified as Riou Sanada and Hiromi Kinomiya-Tachibana. They were joined by both five (nearly six) year olds Nanami Sanada and Syaoran Kazama.

Nanami was still suffering from her influenza but seemed to be getting better. Her father still sat behind his only daughter as an added precaution though.

"Hey, guys. How's the party going?" Syaoran said first as he saw all of his friends in his seven inch screen.

"Very well, Syaoran. I still wish both of you guys and maybe even Makoto would be here as well," Ryu said with his head down to hide his sad face. "We'll visit you, Nanami next week so cheer up."

"Thanks, Ryu. I wish I really had brought my pink umbrella with me back then," The brown haired little girl said with disdain based from her image on the screen. "Mom's still busy preparing my medicine, yuck, as well as a bowl of her special chicken soup, yummy."

"We all make mistakes, Nanami. So don't worry 'bout it," Hana said in reply, while trying to keep herself from laughing at the younger brunette's drooling expression at the prepared meal. "Syaoran, where is your cousin - Makoto anyway?"

"Makoto is with his dad, watching an auto duel on TV." Hiromi replied. She then looked at something beyond the screen as she sat behind the youngest Kazama before adding. "I'll call him if you want to."

"Um, no thanks, Missus Kinomiya. We're cool with Syaoran anyway," The girl said with a blush beginning to form in her cheeks that were framed by her dark brown hair.

"Alright, where is that candid camera cousin of mine anyway? I haven't seen her with you guys yet," The brown haired mother of one (make that two) said in the screen with a small grin on her face.

Syaoran had nstantly missed his bespectacled parents so he added. "Yeah, where are mom and dad anyway?"

"Oh, your mom's a little busy takin' some candid shots at our dads who are still cleaning the lawn." Megumi said with a big smile on her freckled face. "Your dad is with them since he joined the others in splashing our moms in the pool hours earlier."

"Yeah, they even shared cooties when your dad splashed your mom earlier too." Ken had piped up before getting elbowed in the ribs by his orange haired childhood friend.

"Ow. That hurts, 'Umi." The boy added as he had rubbed the sore portion of his little body.

"They never changed," Hiromi said with a grateful sigh. "Alright, jus' tell her not to take too many snapshots or somebody would have the bright idea of exposing the film before it's even developed. See ya, kids."

The image of Syaoran and his aunt disappeared after the five year old said his own goodbyes while waving both his hands.

"Um, my mom's calling me. Bye-bye," Nanami said as the other line was also closed. Her image as well as those of her laughing father behind her also derazzed with both father and daughter waving at the group.

-oOo-

After everyone had tucked in for the night, Ryu asked his mom if he could lead the next generation of the Omega Force when he grows up as he turned to Akane's sleeping form.

"I'm sure you can, Ryu." She replied as she had rubbed her eyes when she woke up. "Jus' remember to do your studies so that the Army can recruit ya after graduating from high school and then place you in the Omega Force after officer's training."

"Thanks, Mom. You're the best," The youngest Saotome said as he had turned around and slept soundly.

"You're welcome, my son." Akane replied as she too let sleep overcome her. "Your welcome."

* * *

(Wipes tears forming in eyes) Love that mother and son moment. So yeah, I've got two (make that three) more stories up in the soon to be posted list before I finally skedaddle out of this great website. Probably for good too.

The first of the two stories would be a prologue for the story that started this Anime Car Wars series of mine- Fuel's Gold. I would have it posted probably in May 2010.

Goodbye for now.


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